Begin Again
by KnowMyNameNotMyStory
Summary: Love is a Journey. Sometimes we're on the right path, other times we take a detour. When we take a detour, often times we feel like we'll never get back to where we need to go. But eventually we'll rediscover our paths, sometimes in the most unlikely places.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I Do Not Own Victorious.**

* * *

"We haven't seen these high of numbers in over 5 years!"

The crowd cheered.

"Last Christmas alone we saw a skyrocketing increase of sales for ALL 12 of our labels."

An even louder cheer occurred.

"I'm really proud of everyone. We've worked so hard this year as a team that I'm happy to announce that the company retreat this year will be…"

The anticipation in the room was building.

"…In Palm Springs!"

"Wow!"

"That's so cool!"

"Yay!"

An uproar of excitement and cheer spread across the room.

"We'll be at a resort and country club for the weekend. Everyone can be one guest only, so maybe a significant other since this retreat will be a well deserved vacation for you all."

Craig Ferguson. He's the hottest name in Hollywood. The owner of Sunset Records currently held the top ten billboard spot in music with seven out of twelve current musicians claiming their spots. He owed it to his employees to have a luxurious retreat.

Mr. Ferguson was a great guy. He took care of his employees. Every year they would go on a company retreat to Malibu; three days to wind down and spend some corporate bonding with one another. Since they had a successful year, Palm Springs was a step up. After this corporate meeting, his assistants distributed brochures and reservation information to everyone. He had already made arrangements ahead of time and couldn't wait for the trip as well. Everyone went about their day, mostly excited and chatted with each other on the amenities that the brochure said about the country club they would stay.

"This is so exciting. Palm Springs! 'Dre we can actually relax and not have to worry about paparazzi because Ferguson is paying extra for security!"

"You're right, Tor! Finally, a real vacation! And we owe it all to our managers," he winked at his manager.

"Well you deserve it, Andre. You too, Vega."

"Yeah, thanks again you guys. Cat you're the best!" she hugged her manager.

Cat Valentine and Jade West were one of Craig Ferguson's top dogs. Cat Valentine was managing Tori Vega, Hollywood's biggest pop star. Lady Gaga couldn't compare to what Tori could bring to the stage. Andre Harris was a threat to every singer songwriter in the business. He wrote and performed his own music, which was very pleasing to his manager, Jade West. And he even gets asked by other artists to write songs for them. All four of them had been friends since high school. Craig Ferguson always joked that there must be something in the water at Hollywood Arts High School because they were his strongest musical acts for his label. Two years ago, Andre and Tori began to date and collaborated more and more with songs, eventually releasing a Holiday duets EP last Christmas. That was the hottest selling CD that brought sales through the roof that Ferguson was talking about. Cat and Jade didn't mind that the two wanted to work more together because they were best friends. This was an excuse to hang out more at work.

"Wow check this out. There's a spa, pool, golf course, tennis courts, baseball, basketball, soccer… the list is endless!" Andre exclaimed.

"He got everyone deluxe king rooms. It's not a suite but the space might as well be," Jade was impressed.

"Full HD LCD screen TV's will 1000 channels, a king sized bed, a couch, balcony, bath tub and shower, table, and mini foyer. Are you sure we didn't get suites?" Cat was bewildered.

"Nope. The difference with Deluxe Kings and suites is a larger living room and multiple rooms in one floor to yourself."

"Holy chizz, Ferguson really upgraded us, huh?" Andre said.

"Well of course he did. This year was awesome!" Tori cheered.

"Especially for you, Tori. Headlining tours, an album and an EP. Great job," Cat told her client and friend.

"Yeah, Tori. You're the biggest reason that we had a good year. Well you and Andre with the EP, then finally you and Andre confirming to the press of your relationship," Jade winked.

Their merriment was cut off too soon when their least favorite person in the world – well, the company – walked up to them.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't the Arts school bunch."

"What do you want, Tara?"

"I haven't tormented you enough today," she smirked.

Tara Ganz. Cat's archenemy. Not that Cat chose to have an enemy. Tara was out for Cat. She managed Craig Ferguson's daughter, Haley, so she was the top dog manager… until Cat and Jade came along. Tara knew she couldn't mess with Jade, nobody could. She was scary. So she went for the weaker link. Cat wasn't the most confident person in the world. She was pretty introverted and didn't like being watched by the public eye. She had a voice to die for, but only Tori, Andre and Jade had ever heard her sing. And Tara? Babies cry when she tried belting out a note. Haley wasn't a great singer either. She was usually auto-tuned and used a lot of repetition and synthesizers on her songs. Think of a broken record, a broken robotic record when imagining her genre. Mostly she just donned flamboyant outfits and always seemed drunk. But Tara knew that Ferguson loved his daughter so she always had an advantage in the company. Ferguson regarded Tara, Cat and Jade as his top dogs because they had the hottest acts in the business (yes, people bought Haley's albums. House music was still popular).

"Tara, don't you ever get tired of all this?" Cat sighed.

"Does it bother you?" Tara asked.

"Yeah. It does."

"Hm… Then no," she smirked.

"Of course," Cat rolled her eyes.

"Anyway, I just wanted to come over here to tell you that I'm bringing my boyfriend with me to the retreat."

"And?" Andre asked.

"And… I wanted to flaunt it all over Cat that I have a boyfriend and she doesn't."

"Wow, real mature," Tori answered.

"Are you bringing anyone to the retreat?"

"What gives if Cat brings someone or not?" Jade grew impatient.

"Well we all know Ferguson is a sappy romantic because Haley's mom's got him whipped. But he likes to know that we're happy with our personal lives too. You know that stupid 'family man' thing he believes," Tara said.

"That's right, my daddy wants you guys to impress him this weekend," Haley interrupted.

"And why do we care? We're already his favorites," Cat said.

"Because daddy's looking for one of his teams to cover his next magazine issue. Rolling Stones called him and they want to do a story on the record label because we did so well this year. Thanks to me of course."

"Haley!" Tara shouted.

"What?" she asked. Haley could be very dense sometimes.

"You weren't supposed to tell them about that!"

"Oh, oops!" Haley said not phased about it and skipped off.

"Whoa, did she say Rolling Stones?" Andre said.

"Yeah, well like I said, Ferguson likes romance and miss I'm-going-to-die-alone won't get it. I will."

"What makes you think you will get it?" Jade challenged.

"What? You and me? Jade you go from guy to guy faster than Andre can write a song. If you forgot, Haley's my client and the boss' daughter. So even if you bring your newest boy-toy, it wouldn't mean anything."

"But what about Cat?"

"Cat doesn't have a boyfriend. How can she impress Ferguson without one?"

"Uh I don't know, just by being herself? Does she really need to impress the boss with a guy around her neck?"

Until now, Cat was standing to the side quietly. She contemplated what they were saying. Was she that much of a loser? Granted she's been in relationships before, but her last one didn't end so well and she was still recovering from heartbreak. But that didn't mean Tara had the right to call her a lonely person. Cat didn't want Tara to win this easily. Not when she and Jade worked so hard this year. She had had enough of this girl.

"W-who says I don't have a boyfriend?" Cat said barely above a whisper. Though it was louder than she thought because all heads turned to her.

"You have a boyfriend? Ha! Yeah right!" Tara wasn't persuaded.

"As a mater of fact, I do," Cat tried to sound convincing.

"You do?" Tori raised an eyebrow. Andre and Jade didn't dare to ask anything. They were just as confused.

"Yeah, Tor. That's why I've been a bit busy lately. I was hanging out with my boyfriend on some nights I wasn't with you guys to record.

"I thought you were still shattered by your last boyfriend?" Tara speculated.

"Y-yeah, but my new boyfriend is _much_ better than him. I completely forgot about him until now." That was a lie.

"Oh really?" Tara smirked. "What's his name?"

Cat hesitated. She looked around the room in panic. A janitor was emptying the trash bins nearby and caught a glimpse at his nametag: Bob. Hm. Bob. Bobby. Robert.

"Robbie. His name is Robbie," Cat exclaimed. Good enough.

Jade, Tori and Andre stood dumbfounded. They're jaws pretty much dropped to the floor.

"Robbie, aye? And what does this Robbie of yours do?"

"He's also in the entertainment business."

"He is, is he? Where do he work?"

"I don't want to brag about him," Cat tried to cover up.

"Of course. Well, I guess I'll just have to ask him myself when you bring him to the retreat then, right?"

"Uh well, the thing is-"

"Yeah, he'll be there," Jade interrupted. She wanted to end this conversation more than anyone because she wanted to talk to Cat.

"Great. See you guys on Friday then." With that, Tara left. Cat turned to face the music.

"Ok, Cat. Spill," Jade demanded.

"Spill what?"

"Cut the crap and tell us. Who's this Robbie kid and why is the first time I'm hearing this?"

Cat told them to go to their office and when the four were in a secured room, she promptly closed and locked the door before slumping on a couch.

"It's the first time you're hearing this because it's the first time I've thought of it."

"Wait, hold up. So he's not real?" Andre clarified.

"Of course not, Andre. I was with Tori in ALL of her recording sessions. I needed a cover up."

"But why? Now you're in deep waters? Tara's going to want to meet this 'Robbie' guy of yours."

"Well I was going to tell her he was busy but Jade had to go and confirm it for me," Cat complained.

"Look, I knew something was up when you just blurted this news out, but real or not, you couldn't just tell her you had a boyfriend and not bring him to the retreat. It would have been even more sketchier."

"Jade's right," Andre said.

"Makes sense," Tori agreed.

Suddenly they heard a knock on the door. Cat hoped it wasn't Tara. She was freaked out enough to get caught talking about her lie.

"Hey Mr. Ferguson," Tori waved.

"Come on, you kids can call me Craig, remember?" he smiled at everyone.

"What's up, boss?" Jade asked.

"So we've half of the resort to ourselves for the weekend starting Friday," he began.

"Yeah we're so excited. Two days from now we'll be in paradise!" Tori exclaimed.

"Excuse her, she's just excited there'll be no paparazzi," Andre chuckled.

"It's fine," Mr. Ferguson chuckled. "We're all excited. Which brings me to my point."

"Yes please get to your point," Jade suggested.

"I'm going to ask you and Cat a huge favor. Do you mind getting there a few hours early to make sure everything is set up, all the reservations have been set and the halls I've reserved are good? You guys can use a company car as well. Or the van if you're bringing anyone."

"The van. We're bringing people."

"Oh that's great! I can't wait to meet them! So you'll do it? My assistant, Trina has to stay with me here until we head up so I went to the next two people I fully trust."

"We'll be glad to go up early for you, sir."

"I knew I could count on your girls. Thanks!" He shut the door and Cat let go of the breath she was holding in.

"Jade! Why'd you tell him I was bringing someone?!"

"You told Tara, what's the difference with Ferguson?"

"Because I don't have someone to bring! Oh God, what am I going to do?" Cat began to hyperventilate. "Should I just come clean?"

After a few minutes to think, Tori spoke up.

"You should find a guy," she suggested.

"Whoa, Tori Vega, are you actually suggesting Cat go through with this?" Andre was impressed by his girlfriend, the usual goody two shoes.

"No Tori's right. The only to fix this is to make your lie a truth. And we are all tired of Tara thinking she's the chizz. Haley and Tara don't deserve that front cover of Rolling Stones. One of us does. And that's you and Tori, Cat."

"Yeah, You and Tori had the highest selling records this past year. Really proud of you girls," Andre squeezed his girlfriend's hand.

"We're not going to let Tara win this easily. Am I right, you guys?" Jade exclaimed.

"RIGHT!" Andre and Tori cheered.

"Come on, Cat." Jade grabbed her arm.

"What are we doing? Where are we going?" Cat was confused.

"To find you a boyfriend!"

* * *

A/N: Miss me? lol It's still Wednesday where I am so happy Wednesday everyone! I was meaning to publish this earlier in the day, actually I was meaning to publish Cabbie over the summer, but I have a good reason for all of this...

Time wise- I had a meeting in the City of Angels. Great place to visit, maybe live, but not a great place for work because TRAFFIC IS HORRIBLE. That's why I got home only 20 minutes ago.

Also, I was going to wait until the summer time, but my meeting today was very important, signing with new peeps, and I might lose time again. So I'll publish a fic or two now, and start my Victorious one-shots over the summer for sure.

Story wise- I know I said my first fic coming back would be an A&A one. But as I finally titled all my stories, I wanted to publish this one first because of the title I chose. Obviously Taylor Swift's meaning for this song will tie in to the story, but personally, I spent the last two months really figuring things out. I may not have found my true calling or living my dreams just yet, but I did figure out what I'm doing, where I'm going, and who I hope to become. I feel content, to say the least. Of course I've got a million things to juggle, but when I was sitting in a coffee shop with a friend one day and we were talking about anything and everything, I couldn't help but to think that despite all this chaos going on, I know that things will work out and I just need to work on it one day at a time. Anyways, this is like me beginning again with my career, with you guys, and with life.

Wow that was cheesy. Anyways, I'm still publishing my Austin and Ally fic, probably the same time I do this. So don't be confused with my updates if you aren't planning to read both. Well I'm going to watch tv and eat dinner. Goodnight!


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Wow you guys, thanks for the welcome back stuff :) I'm glad you're taking interest in the story. It doesn't have a lot of chapters like my other ones, but every chapter gets pretty lengthy. Trina won't be in this as much, only a few instances or two. Yes, they're OOC but I'm leaving the 'in character' stuff for those one-shots I'm working on. Enjoy!**

* * *

"Why did I say that I had a boyfriend to Tara?"

"Because you don't function well under pressure and you're an idiot," Jade replied.

"You're not helping," Cat grunted.

Jade and Cat scoured the city to find potential guys for Cat to hook up with, but their luck was fading. Jade, being the coffee addict she was, suggested to take a coffee break at their favorite café. Granted it was JetBrew, and this brand was basically monopolizing the industry, but Jade claimed the JetBrew near their old high school brewed the best coffee.

"It's true. You always let Tara get to you. Just be like me and ignore it or don't say anything too promising, just threatening," her best friend smirked.

"But it's not that simple for me Jade. I mean you said it yourself; I can't handle pressure let alone any socialization. I'm just an introvert."

"And yet, you're managing Tori Vega, the multiplatinum recording artist from Los Angeles," Jade responded.

"That's because I'm managing her, not singing with her."

"But you should. You're voice is amazing."

"That's not the point. My point is Ferguson calls the shots and I relay it to Tori. That's all. I'm not important."

"If you get on Ferguson's good side maybe you can call the shots eventually. So suck it up and find yourself a boyfriend before tomorrow."

"Jade..."

"It's not like you haven't had a boyfriend before. I mean you went out with Dan-" before she finished the sentence, Jade caught herself and stopped. Cat's eyes began to drift off into a grave place, like she always did when the thought of her ex boyfriend crept into her mind.

"Cat?"

The redhead was snapped out of her thoughts.

"It's ok, Jade."

"Come on, Kitty. It shouldn't be that hard to find a date."

"Easy for you to say. You're freaking gorgeous! Guys kiss the ground you walk on."

"Looks have nothing to do with it, girl. It's all about confidence."

"Confidence. Right. Because I have a lot of that," she sarcastically nodded.

"Look, Cat. You're beautiful. You're talented. You're smart. All that's missing is confidence. Add that and you can get _any_ guy."

"Not likely," Cat responded. As they inched closer to the front of the ling, she turned the tables. "And need I remind you that YOU should be worrying about finding a date as well."

"Cat, don't change the subject."

"Ok fine. Say I work on this confidence thing. But need I remind you _again_ that it's Wednesday. And thanks to _you_ volunteering us to go early, I have only 24 hours to find a guy."

"Why 24 hours?"

"Because he wants us all to be at the resort by 8:30 AM, meaning you and I need to be there by at least 6:30. I doubt you're going to want to drive up at four in the morning so I'm guessing we'll drive up tomorrow and stay at a hotel nearby then drive to the resort in the morning."

Jade thought about the itinerary as they were inching closer to the front of the line.

"Good plan. And that's more than enough time."

"It's not that easy to get a date. Let's be real, Jade. I mean even you can't find a boyfriend that quick."

"Maybe not a boyfriend, but a date is better than nothing, right?"

"Right. But I told Tara that I had a boyfriend."

"So? Find a guy first and figure all that out later."

"That's impossible at this point."

"Oh is it?" Jade questioned her best friend.

"Yes it is," Cat was semi-confident in responding. "When you find a date that way then I'll get off my ass and find a guy for the weekend," she half joked.

"I think that's a challenge, Ms. Valentine. A challenge I will gladly accept," Jade beamed with confidence.

"What? I didn't challenge you."

"Nor do you think it's possible. So _challenge_."

It was finally their turn to give orders to the barista at the register. Seeing them, the guy behind the counter immediately smiled like he was expecting them.

"Hey ladies. What can I get for you?" he asked.

"Watch and learn," she told her friend. She turned around and put on her game face. "You busy tonight pretty boy?"

If his smile couldn't get any bigger, it did.

"No, I don't actually," he responded coolly.

"You wanna go out?"

"Sure," he smiled.

"I'll take a venti vanilla latte," she winked and turned back to Cat.

"Unbelievable," Cat gawked.

"Believable," Jade stated. "Your turn."

After Cat ordered her drink, the two stepped to the side to wait for their names to be called.

"Jade, it's easy for you, that's not fair."

"No excuses, Cat. Come on. I mean do you really want Tara to hover over you for the rest of your life? Do this for your career. Hell, just do it for yourself. We all know you need to move on and grow some confidence. You can do it."

"Ugh," Cat scratched her head. "But why did I have to be so specific?"

"Hey you were the one talking."

Cat glared at her.

"What? At least you said a normal name."

"Yeah, but what am I supposed to do?"

"Find a guy named Robbie."

"And how would you propose I do that? You don't expect me to just yell a guy's name out and he'll just magically appear."

"Only one way to find out," Jade stated before yelling "**_ROBBIE_**!"

"Jade what the hell?!" Cat said embarrassed for her friend's actions.

"Yeah?" a low voice said nearby.

The two girls stopped their bickering enough to turn around and find a guy sitting at a table that had looked up from his pearpad.

"Your name's Robbie?" Jade asked.

"It's what my mamaw calls me," he joked pushing his glasses up his nose.

Cat found this cute and smiled to herself. But she was wrapped up in this stranger and the smile went away.

"Robbie, you got a girlfriend?" Jade got to the point.

"Uh..."

"Just answer the question," Jade demanded.

"No," he muttered already scared of her.

"Great." Jade grabbed Cat by the arm and pushed her to stand in front of him. "Cat this is Robbie, Robbie this is Cat. Wow. That was easy. Enjoy."

"Jade," Cat hissed, grabbing her best friend's arm.

"What? Here's a guy named Robbie. He's… decent looking and he's single."

"And? I don't know anything about him," she whisper-yelled.

"Now's your chance to. Come on, Cat. Just give it a shot."

Cat quickly glanced back at the guy. He was holding a pearpad, but she could tell he wasn't using it for games, rather something more important. His short cut hair still didn't hide his natural curls, and his point Dexter glasses hid his deep brown eyes. Secretly, she loved smart guys. And this one was undeniably smart and a tad bit attractive.

"Ugh… only because I need this for my job."

"Sure," Jade was unconvinced, "your job. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to get to know my date as well." With that, Jade walked off to the barista to fetch her drink. Cat sighed at her friend then turned back around. _Well, here goes nothing_, she thought.

"Uh…" Cat muttered. _Uh?! That's all you can say?!_ She mentally slapped herself.

"I think it's best if you sit since all this awkwardness in the air is probably suffocating us. Plus, I don't want to anger your scary friend," he added.

This made Cat laugh and relieve her just a bit. She settled down at a seat next to him.

"Robbie Shapiro," he held his hand out.

"Cat Valentine," she shook it.

"So uh… What was that all about with…?"

"Jade."

"Jade. Yeah. Why'd she ask me if I was single?"

"Uh… Because she's trying to find a guy for me," she said in embarrassment.

"Oh," Robbie answered. Cat was internally grateful that he wasn't trying to be cocky about it. "Uh, I'm not one to usually go on blind dates or setups, but your friend scares me," he admitted.

"She scares everyone," Cat giggled. This caught Robbie's attention. In the two minutes of talking, he grew a liking to the way her face glowed when she smiled or laughed.

"I'm sorry, this is still awkward. I don't know how to do this. I'm socially awkward."

"You're socially awkward? I'm the awkward one," she smiled.

"Oh yeah? I bet I'm more awkward. I get fire truck red every time I have to stand in front of a crowd and talk."

"That's nothing," Cat scoffed. "I once bored people to death talking about the anatomy of the potato chip at a meeting because I was super nervous. My boss was confused as hell. All he asked me was if I wanted a window seat or an aisle seat to our business trip to Atlanta. How it turned into potato chips beats the chizz out or me," she said matter-of-factly.

Robbie went into a fit of laughter, turning beet red, probably the shade he turned when he was nervous.

"Ok, ok, you win. God I wish could have been there. It sounded like a great comedic moment."

"Thanks, I'm not that funny, but I guess funny is my compensation for social awkwardness," she giggled.

"How can you be awkward? You're way pretty," he said. He realized what he said aloud and his red face came back. Cat eased, knowing it wasn't a pick up line.

"That doesn't mean I'm confident," she stated.

"Well you should be."

"But I'm not."

"I'm sure you are. You just don't want to give yourself credit."

"You sound just like Jade and everyone at work."

"Well Jade is right then. I bet you're the person in the office who does everything without getting the recognition she deserves, especially a promotion to a manager position or something, huh?"

"Uh, well I am a manager, sort of. My work doesn't go unnoticed, but then again, it's a team effort and I'm not the star of the show."

"So you're a manager with a lack of confidence? No, that's impossible. And I'm sure whatever that 'complicated' is, it'll work out somehow and you'll be the star of the show," he encouraged. He didn't know her and this job of hers, but he was being genuine and she knew it.

"What about you? Does your job require confidence?"

"Oh yeah. Tons," he joked. "I work behind the scenes so I don't have to deal with the spotlight."

"Behind the scenes?"

"You know, like the whole not the star of the show thing?"

"No I get it," she told him, "Just, like what kind of behind the scenes?"

"Well we live in LA. Is it a surprise that I work for the entertainment industry?"

"No, not at all. I do too," she said. _Thank God he works in the business,_ she remembered.

"Well for two socially awkward people who work for entertainment, we sure are living the dream huh?" he joked. "I'm a music editor for a tv series."

"I'm a manager at a record label."

"Well chizz. You win. You are more socially awkward and weird than I am," he raised his cup to her.

"I guess," she shrugged.

They enjoyed the comfortable silence that came across them for a moment. Cat felt comfortable, thought she still had that worry in the back of her mind.

"Listen, Robbie," she sighed. "You're a nice guy-"

"Uh-oh," he interrupted her.

"Huh?" she was confused.

"Ye Old 'Nice Guy Speech'," he chuckled. This prompted Cat to laugh, but she was still confused.

"What are you talking about?"

"You're going to say I'm a nice guy and you just want to be friends, huh?" he didn't seem phased by this, which meant that he probably didn't have much of a shot with girls.

"No, well yeah, but no," Cat sighed. "What I was going to say was that look, Robbie you seem like a really nice guy and even just knowing you for ten minutes I feel pretty comfortable around you," she explained.

"Wait, you're not going to say you're in love with me are you?" he asked.

"You really love jumping to conclusions, huh?" she cocked her head to the side.

"I figured I should beat them to the punch before getting punched myself," he shrugged.

"Well don't worry I won't punch you," she assured him. "But what I'm about to say might be just as weird as both your conclusions."

"Try me," he raised an eyebrow.

"Well like I said, you seem like a nice guy so I don't want to lead you on to what you think is a typical setup from my friend. Yes, she's trying to find me a guy, but it's because I need a date for my company retreat this weekend."

"Oh, that's it?"

"Well the thing is. I kind of lied to one of my coworkers who has been torturing me for years. I told her I had a boyfriend and that his name was Robbie."

"So specific. Haven't you ever been taught that you shouldn't be specific when you lie?" he joked.

"So I've heard," she grunted. "Anyway, so when Jade yelled the name and you just happened to respond, she set me up and well here we are."

"Yep. Here we are." It became awkward again.

"Look, this may be the weirdest thing that's ever happened to you and trust me I feel weird too, but if I'm going to talk to you more, I'm eventually going to want to ask you to be a part of my lie. But you're a sweet guy and I don't know if I can do that."

"I see." Robbie tried to process everything while Cat continued to babble.

"And hey, maybe we can just be friends if you don't want to be a part of this mess. You really seem like a great guy and we all can use more friends in this world, right? I come to this coffee shop all the time. I totally wouldn't hold anything against you because a part of me feels that I should just confess and face my consequences for lying in the first place."

Robbie sat there taking it all in. When he didn't budge, Cat spoke up again.

"So listen, I'm going to go now. I still have a session with my client." Cat sensed the tension and it was eating her alive. Before walking off, she turned around and walked back to him. "If you do happen to take on my crazy request, we'll be leaving at 4 PM in front of Sunset Records." She placed a business card on his table. "It was really nice to meet you, Robbie."

With that she walked away.

It took Robbie a few minutes after she left to process everything completely. Surprisingly, he wasn't weirded out at all. He was merely confused. Why would she ask him? Granted his name was Robbie, but she could have asked any other guy to just pretend that their name was Robbie. He picked up the card and was amazed by what he discovered.

**SUNSET RECORDS  
**Cat Valentine  
_Talent Manager_

"Whoa. She wasn't kidding," Robbie said to himself. He took out his phone and dialed a friend's number.

_Hello?_

_Sinjin, it's Robbie._

_What's up, Rob?_

_So I met this girl…_

_You did?! That's awesome, dude! Yeah Robbie's got a girlfriend!_

_Sinjin, I said I met a girl. I didn't say anything about girlfriend. But I think it's more complicated than that._

_What do you mean?_

_Well she kind of wants me to be her date for a company thing._

_Did you say yes? You sure as hell should have said yes before I kick your ass._

_Well I don't know yet._

_You don't know? Robbie when was the last time you had a girlfriend?_

_Well…_

_Don't answer that. Too long. You're 26 years old and you've only had one girlfriend and she left you after a seven-year relationship. Get over her._

_I am over her. But that just goes to show that I barely have any experience with girls._

_She wants you to be her date. It shouldn't be that bad._

_Yeah but she's way out of my league, Sinj._

_Robbie you're a good guy. Just because you don't look like Brad Pitt doesn't mean that a girl won't like you. Looks aren't everything. It's all about confidence._

_Which I don't have!_

_Yes you do! Robbie, if you called me to ask if you should go out with this girl well I'm telling you now that you should. You may have reservations about it now and it might be kind of forward of her to ask you for a favor so early, but I'm sure even if she looked desperate she must have some trust in you. Who knows, this might be the best decision you'll ever make and what if you make the wrong one?_

_No pressure, dude._

_Yeah yeah. Just think about what I said ok?_

_Alright I'll talk to you later man._

_*click*_


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: This chapter goes out to JMags-WriterofAwesomeness. Happy Birthday :)**

**CabbieLoverSAC22, That was my favorite part to write! ****I was listening to the song Begin Again and it just became so parallel to my recent 'coffee date' with a friend. Maybe I wasn't thinking about starting over romantically, but with life. I have doubters surrounding me. So I decided to do something about it because I've had enough of my real world 'Tara's' taking over me. Also, I once became part of a friend's lie but it was a petty one. I thought it would be funny to write a story that started as a lie but would eventually become true. Choosing how Robbie and Cat met in a coffee shop, well in college, I would people watch in the Starbucks near campus and I would think about these likely encounters. Friends meeting up, Lab/project partners meeting for the first time, strangers asking to sit beside each other to share the free wifi. There HAD to be some romantic meet-cute between these strangers. So I decided to write about it. Nothing too specific, but that's where I got my inspiration.**

* * *

"So how'd it go with café boy yesterday?" Jade asked as they walked into the studio the following morning. "You left so fast before I realized you weren't there anymore."

"Maybe because when I went to get you, you were sucking face with the barista," Cat cheekily grinned.

"Hey he was cute! And it's not like I haven't seen him before."

"Wait, you knew the guy?"

"Sort of. I mean we've gone to that JetBrew for years. It's the best one within the five-mile radius from here. And I've ordered drinks from him before."

"Is it your favorite because of the coffee or the guy?"

"Well he makes the coffee, it's a double double," she winked.

"Wow, desperate much?" Cat joked.

"No, I just like playing hard to get," she played along.

"Did he recognize you at least?"

"Oh yeah. He sure did," Jade smiled.

"Well that's great for you then. So is he coming to the retreat?"

"What do you think, Kitty-Cat?" Jade winked.

"Of course," she raised her arms. "Wait," she realized something. "Hey, that's no fair! You knew your guy! Mine was a complete stranger. That made it all the more difficult."

"But it worked didn't it?"

"I don't know, honestly."

"What do you mean you don't know? The one time I did glance over, you two were laughing about something and you looked like you were actually enjoying yourself."

"Hey ladies." Trina stopped by Jade's office. She was Tori's older sister and Mr. Ferguson's executive assistant. She didn't get the talent gene in the Vega family, but she did have the pants of a powerful businesswoman. No one could negotiate as well as Trina.

"This packet came for you, Cat. It's for my sister's next gig."

"Morning Trina," Jade said.

"Thanks, Tri. Speaking of Tori, where is she?"

"Well we had a family dinner last night so she spent the night at our parents. She'll probably be here soon though since it's not too far from here."

"Alright, thanks for letting me know."

"So I hear you've got a new boyfriend?" Trina brought up.

"Where'd you hear that from?" Cat grew nervous.

"Tara. She basically told everyone the second after you told her. What's his name?" Trina was the gossip queen. Being Ferguson's assistant had its perks of working with every team. So she knew everything about everyone. For the most part.

"Robbie," Jade answered for her.

"Aw such a cute name. Cat and Robbie," Trina daydreamed. "Well I hope I get to meet him at the retreat!"

"You will," Jade assured her… and Cat.

"Great well I'll talk to you girls later then. Bye!" With that, Trina left.

"God, Tori and Trina can not be any more similar," Jade laughed. "They're hopeless romantics, I swear. Andre's got a lot coming for him if he marries in to the Vega family."

"Oh come on, Jade. Romance is awesome. You'll find a guy. Who knows? Maybe it's the barista," Cat winked.

"Beck."

"What?"

"His name is Beck… and yours is Robbie," she countered.

"Like I said, he's barely an acquaintance."

"And like I said, you didn't see the way you looked at him. You seemed relaxed for the first time in forever."

"I did?"

"Yeah you did. So explain to me what you mean by 'I don't know'."

"I liked talking to him, I really did. Which is why I didn't want the conversation to go any further without telling him about the circumstances."

"You told him right away?!"

"Yeah."

"Well what happened?!" Jade was getting impatient.

"Nothing. He just stood there staring into space. I scared him. But he was really nice."

"Yeah, and?"

"And what? That's all. I don't think I could take that as any sign of agreement."

"He didn't agree to anything yet."

"I know and he didn't say no either."

"Exactly."

"I guess a part of me thinks, more like hopes, that he will show up after work today. I told him we could be friends, just maybe pretend for the weekend, but I don't know. God I'm such a basket case. I can't even get a decent guy to help me out."

"You're not a basket-case. Pull yourself together, woman!" Jade shook her friend. "Well let's just hope café boy says yes. He did seem pretty into you," Jade pointed out.

"No he didn't."

"You didn't see him from a distance. He couldn't stop smiling at you."

Cat took a sip of her coffee, hiding the smile forming on her lips. Maybe, just maybe he'll come around.

Four o'clock didn't come soon enough. Jade's guy, Beck, came by a bit earlier and introduced himself to Cat as they loaded their luggage to the van that Ferguson let them use. Jade made sure Ferguson gave her all the details before leaving. They were running a bit late but Cat didn't seem to mind. There was still no sign of Robbie.

"Hey, Cat. Jade's just grabbing some snacks from her office and locking up. She'll be down in a minute."

"Thanks. So you excited for the weekend?"

"You mean excited to finally get to spend time with Jade? Hell yeah. I've been wanting to talk to her for years."

"You have?" Cat was surprised.

"Definitely. There's just something about her you know? I was actually going to man up and talk to her yesterday, but she beat me to the punch and talked to me first. I'm not complaining, I got the girl," he beamed.

"You know, I've been Jade's best friend for over ten years and I gotta say, you're much different from a lot of the guys she's dated. And she's dated a lot… But you're different. And I think that's a good thing," Cat said.

"Yeah. I know we barely met, but I just have that feeling that Jade might be the one you know?"

"I think you just might be the one for her too," Cat genuinely said.

"Thanks, Cat. And hey, this guy, Robbie. I've seen him at the coffee shop a lot too. He's usually with some other kid with curly hair and glasses and for a while with some girl but not anymore, but he looked like a good guy. I'm sure he'll show up."

"Let's hope," she sighed.

Jade came out a minute later with a bag full of snacks.

"Ready to go?" she asked the two. She looked around to see if Robbie ever came. He didn't.

"Yeah. Let's go," Cat said closing the trunk of the van.

She didn't know if she should be disappointed because this was one crazy request from a total stranger. But deep down she really thought that after all her failed relationships that maybe this time a guy would do something nice for her.

"Hey guys, sorry I'm late!" Cat froze. She hadn't turned around since shutting the door. _Could it really be him?_

She turned around and in the flesh was the guy from the coffee shop jogging up to the three.

"Robbie," Cat was speechless.

"Hey Cat. I'm really sorry I'm late. You said 4 PM but I was waiting in line for so long."

She couldn't believe it. Robbie was actually going to do her favor.

"Oh I'm sorry, Robbie this is Jade and Beck."

"Hi. Robbie Shapiro," he waved to them.

"Hey I'm Beck Oliver," the two men shook hands.

"Whatcha got there, buddy? You a caffeine addict?" Jade joked.

"I got us all coffee. It's why I'm a bit late," he nervously said.

"Mm Coffee. Alright ,you're on my good side," Jade grabbed a cup, followed by Beck and sipped it's caffeinated goodness.

"You're actually right on time, Robbie. Jade had to make sure everything was locked and we were just about to board the van," Beck said before jumping into the front passenger seat. "Oh and I call shotgun!"

Cat rolled her eyes as Jade didn't protest and climbed into the driver's seat. She and Beck were purposely having the two sit together during this two-hour ride. Robbie got to the door before Cat, held it open and handed her a cup of coffee.

"Shall we?" he gestured for her to step in.

"We shall," Cat smiled. Before stepping in, Cat turned back around to him, "Thanks."

He simply smiled and stepped inside, closing the door behind him, prepared to expect the unexpected this entire weekend.

"So Robbie, you're not just doing this to get into my best friend's pants are you?"

Robbie grew beet red.

"Jade!" Cat yelled.

"What? I'm your best friend. I'm just looking out for you, Kitty-Cat," she winked through the rearview mirror.

"Rest assured Jade, I'm not that kind of guy," Robbie spoke up. Cat turned to him and smiled.

"Well I didn't peg you for one. I was just pulling your leg," Jade laughed.

"I'm really sorry about her," Cat told him.

"It's fine. I think it's important to get the best friend's approval, don't you think?"

"Exactly!" Beck said and high fived him. "Cat gave me the approval."

"You did?" Jade sneered at Cat.

Cat simply smirked at her best friend.

"Well even though we're just pretending, I still want Jade's approval to be Cat's friend at least," Robbie hoped.

"It's really nice of you to agree to Cat's request, Robbie," Jade genuinely replied. "but since I'm Cat's best friend, I need to make sure you pass the test."

"I thought I already did with the coffee and just now?" he said.

"Yeah but the coffee's gone now," Jade lifted her cup. They had barely got onto the freeway and it was empty.

"You should have gotten her a venti," Beck added.

"And how would I know that?" Robbie joked in frustration.

"Easy Robbie, Beck's a barista at JetBrew. Jade loves JetBrew so obviously he'd know that," Cat explained.

"That and I know what my lady wants," he winked at Jade.

"You're lady?" Jade raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, my lady."

"One date and you already think we're a thing?"

"I'm sure last night consummated our relationship, didn't it?"

"TMI!" Robbie covered his ears.

"And I thought talking to Robbie at the coffee shop was awkward enough," Cat face palmed.

"Oh whatever, we're all adults here people. And Beck, just because we hooked up doesn't mean we're a thing now."

"By the end of the weekend we will, you'll see," he boasted.

"Anyway," Jade said before she could find time to blush. "So Robbie, what do you do?"

"I uh work in the music department on a TV show for ABC."

"Music huh? Cat and I are in the music business too. Do you write the music?"

"No, I'm in the editing department so I work with my team to choose the right music for the episodes. Then I cut specific parts of the tracks to use for scenes."

"You any good?"

"You ever watch The Schwimmer Diaries?"

"Uh yeah, it's freaking awesome! Wait… you do the music for that show?"

Sure do," he sipped his coffee.

"Dude, Cat and I LOVE the soundtrack to every episode. Damn Robbie, you've got some great taste in music!"

"Thanks?"

"That's a compliment. That means Jade likes you," Cat informed him.

"I do love the music I add, but between you and me," he gestured to Cat, "I'm more of an old soul kind of guy."

"Oh God, same with Cat," Jade said.

"Oh yeah?" he said.

"Yeah. Who do you like?" Cat asked him.

"I'm into some of the old powerhouse female acts like Whitney Houston and Ella Fitzgerald. Kind of like What Tori Vega sounds like."

"You know how I work at Sunset Records?" Cat asked.

"Yeah?"

"Robbie, you're looking at Tori Vega's manager," Beck said. He and Jade laughed when Robbie's shocked expression came over him.

"No way!"

"Yup," she nodded.

"Tori's awesome. Well I also like singer-songwriters so Andre Harris would be my other favorite label at Sunset. You're not going to tell me you manage him too, right?" he joked.

"Nope, that's Jade's client," Cat smiled.

"Andre Harris is your client?! Man am I intimidated," Robbie said. The other three laughed.

"He's like the James Taylor of this generation. And he mixes it up genre-wise like Justin Timberlake."

"You like James Taylor too?" Cat said.

"Yeah. James Taylor and David Bowie are my favorite musicians."

"No chizz? I love them both."

"I have every David Bowie record and almost every James Taylor record on vinyl except for one. October Road."

"That's my favorite album! How can you not have it?"

"It's so hard to find nowadays. Come on. You mean to tell me you have _all_ his records?"

"David, yes. James, no. Not all. I'm missing One Man Dog and Hourglass."

"I've got both of those, including his live performance of hourglass."

"Where did you find them? I've been searching for years."

"There's an old record store in NoHo. It looks ratty outside but give it a go and you're guaranteed to find something there."

"Even Woody Guthrie?" Cat asked. Robbie nodded.

"The real albums too. Including Dust Bowl Ballads and Hard Travelin' records. Not just the simple compilations."

"Oh my God, that's awesome. Compilations are nice, but the actual record is always better," Cat sighed.

"Who's Woody Guthrie?" Beck asked Jade.

"Probably some old dude who's dead."

"And he wrote ballads about dust bowls?" Beck was confused.

"Hey, you had to write songs based on inspiration. I don't think there was much to be inspired about when the dinosaurs ruled the earth," Jade explained.

"You guys just don't know what good music is," Robbie told the two in the front. Then he turned to Cat, "We should totally listen to these records some time."

"Definitely," she smiled.

"Aw look at you two, talking about boring old people music," Beck teased.

This prompted Cat and Robbie's faces to flush and look away from one another.

"And cue the awkward silence," Jade added.

"It's like you guys enjoy torturing the socially awkward," Robbie commented.

"We sure do," Jade agreed.

* * *

**A/N: David Bowie, James Taylor and Woody Guthrie are legends. Any album I mentioned are my favorites from them.**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Flamekat, yes there will be plenty more wooing in this story lol**

**I want to update you guys with my current plans. I'm publishing my first A&A fic tomorrow so that'll be something new. I'll be busy Monday so this story will be updated on Tuesday (sorry for the long wait).**

**Victorious One-shots are coming along. I will start that in June/July.**

**I have a SIU fic to publish, but I think I'll wait on that since I don't want to juggle three stories at once.**

**A good friend that I met here asked me to do a collab with her and I am SUPER excited. I think we're hush hush about it for now, but let me tell you this, if you think I'm a good writer (which I'm not), she's freaking awesome. So getting to work with her is a real privilege.**

**I wrote a story back in 11th grade for a competition. Made it to the semi's but didn't win. Though I did get it performed by local actors. That'll be a new Cabbie fic. Actually it'll be more of a Cikowitz story with a mix of Cabbie. Don't worry, it'll all work out. No, Cat won't fall in love with Sikowitz, that's why Robbie's there for the romance part!**

**Oh, and I'm a wizard. I am. Well, I'm a Potterhead. Summer of 2011, I got early access to Pottermore and for a while I forgot I had an account. Now I'm back on it and I can't stop.**

**Until Tuesday, have a great weekend!**

* * *

They arrived at a hotel near the resort and checked in. Beck suggested they order a pizza and watch a movie in he and Jade's hotel room for the rest of the night. Seeing as there was really nothing else to do, they all agreed.

If coffee was one thing that Beck and Jade had in common, movies would be the second. They enjoyed action-adventure-thrillers; anything to get their blood to boil. Cat? She was obviously a chick flick kind of girl. But she sat through the movie Looper with them since it was the only thing they all agreed on. At one point in the movie, however, the two main characters shared a rather intimate scene. Beck thought it was a perfect moment to make a move on Jade so they spent the rest of the time swapping spit with one another.

"Uhh, I'm leaving," Cat said after five minutes.

"Same. We'll see you guys in the morning," Robbie followed Cat, not wanting to be around them.

The lovebirds didn't notice and continued sucking face.

Cat and Robbie went back to their room and got ready for bed. It was barely 9 PM meaning they weren't tired yet.

"So, about this retreat…" he started.

"What about it?"

"Am I supposed to do something like specific or do I just keep my mouth shut?"

"I guess now's a good time to lay out a plan, huh?"

"Sure I guess, that way no one will suspect anything."

They settled on the bed, both sitting Indian style. Cat leaned against the headboard and Robbie basically sat on the center of the mattress.

"So, what exactly is happening this weekend?"

"Uh, well every year, Craig Ferguson hosts a retreat, like a real vacation for all his employees. We have probably one meeting but the rest is just corporate bonding. He's really into oneness and working as a family. He likes to get to know us, our personal lives and relationships. He's a family man. That's why he would like it if I brought a boyfriend along to the trip. Or at least Jade and everyone said it would help to get on Ferguson's good side."

"Well that's really nice of him to do this every year."

"Yeah. And this year we did so well that he's hosting it here in Palm Springs instead of somewhere near Los Angeles. That's why Jade and I are here early because he asked us to make sure all the reservations were good for the entire weekend. He rented out half the place and yes the talent will come but there will be no paparazzi within a ten mile radius from the resort."

"That's cool. But can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"Why you and Jade? Why not his assistant or something?"

"Trina needed to stay with him until the day of the retreat because we _are_ pretty busy this time of the year. He trusts Jade and me so that's why we're here."

"So if he trusts you, then why do you have to have a boyfriend?"

"Because I already blew up the lie to Tara. She's managing the boss' daughter and since I joined the team, apparently I'm like a threat to her so she vows to make my life miserable. She kept going on about having a boyfriend and calling me a loser so I just blurted that I hade one too to end the torture."

"Ok now this is making more sense to me. I think I'm all caught up."

"Great. So yeah… That leads us here. You see, Ferguson has a cover story for Rolling Stones and someone tipped to us that he's still thinking about which team to feature on the cover of the magazine. So basically it's an impress your boss weekend while having our annual retreat."

"Ah, the old butt-kissing game," Robbie commented.

"Exactly," Cat said. "But honestly, I don't really want to kiss Ferguson's butt. I just want Tara to shut up about me once and for all. So don't think that I'm trying to play you up or anything. Even though I kind of am…" Cat grew uneasy.

"It's ok, Cat. I get it," Robbie chuckled at her nervousness. "I'm game, remember?"

"Thanks," she said timidly.

"You know, if we're going to pretend to be intimate, you're going to have to get used to not being nervous or shy around me. I don't bite," Robbie playfully surrendered. At least it calmed her down.

"I know it's just, I still feel weird about all this. Not with you, but with this whole situation. Like what if it doesn't work out?"

"Of course it will because we won't tell anyone. I mean who knows about this?"

"Jade, Beck, you, Tori and Andre."

"And that's all the people who will know. If we figure this out now then there should be nothing to worry about."

"You're right," Cat nodded. "But, I don't want to build on lies any more than I already have. So I do want to get to know you and have you get to know me. That way it'll be more natural, you know?"

"Ok. Let's start now… Well, my full name is Robert. I was born on November 13 in Santa Barbara. Moved to Los Angeles to attend UCLA for college. I'm 26 years old. Uh… I love music, if you haven't already noticed," he winked. She giggled. "I like popcorn, and I'm a Mac and cheese aficionado. And I mean the legit kind, not the ones you buy in boxes."

"Mac and cheese?" Cat couldn't contain her laughter.

"Yep. I make it from scratch. Well, a bag of pasta and a box of Velveeta. But hey, I can call it home cooking since it's not one from a box and it's real cheese," he explained.

"Is that all you can cook?"

"Well I'm sorry I'm not fully domesticated yet, Ms Valentine," he smirked. "But whatever you're favorite meal is I promise to learn how to make it.

"As a matter of fact, I love mac and cheese. So you're in luck," she said. "But I also love spaghetti and meatballs, I'm just saying," she tipped.

"Duly noted," he nodded. "You like pasta, huh?"

"I'm part Italian so it's kind of in my blood," she explained. "Family parties are usually full of food and loud noises."

"Oh I have a story to tell you. When I was a little boy, I wanted a cape for Christmas. That's the biggest holiday in my family. Anyway, I remember getting my first cape and I obviously thought through all the cartoon and comics that a cape meant you can fly. So I put it on and ran to my backyard. My older brother and I had a tree house and I climbed on the deck. I jumped off and well I'm sure you know what happens after that," he finished.

"Ouch!" Cat winced. "How bad was the damage?"

"Broke my right arm. Had a blue cast for six months. It was horrible. I couldn't do anything. Couldn't do my homework, couldn't play my guitar, couldn't use a spoon – nothing," he sighed. "But I did learn something that day."

"And that's what?"

"I am _not_ superman," he laughed.

"Well maybe not Clark Kent superman, but you can be a hero in your own way," Cat suggested.

"I never thought of it that way," he contemplated.

"Just a thought," she smiled. They shared a brief gaze.

"So what about you? Who is Cat Valentine?" he put her in the hot seat.

"Ok. Well for starters, my full name is Caterina."

"That's unique," he said.

"Thanks. My real hair color is a dark brown, but if you look in the light I dyed it a deep shade of red. My birthday is June 26. I was born and raised in Hollywood, which was no surprise that I ended up working in the entertainment business."

"Do you have a talent? You know, besides being an awesome manager?" he asked.

"Uh," she was hesitant.

"Cat, come on. You can trust me. You know a lot about me now," he said.

"I can sing, but I don't perform in front of anyone but my family, Jade, Tori and Andre."

"I bet you have a beautiful voice," he said.

"You've never heard my voice," she raised an eyebrow.

"Maybe one day I will," he hoped.

"Maybe," she smiled. "Anyway. I like oldies music, as you know, I was the top of my class, but I'm book smart, not street smart. That's what Jade is for. I love chick flicks meaning I'm a hopeless romantic, and even though I've done gymnastics and dance when I was younger, I've never had anything broken in my body… Unless you count my heart," she kidded.

"Good one," he chuckled. "Why didn't you continue with dance or gymnastics?"

"Like I said, I'm not comfortable with the spotlight, but I do love the arts. So I found that I could be a part of it through the business world. I mean what about you? Why do you do your job if you can play guitar?"

"Guitar is just a hobbie. Songs tell stories and I love finding the perfect song to be the soundtrack of an epic moment in a story."

"Nice," Cat said.

"See this is good, we're learning about each other and I'm starting to feel like I really know you as more than a stranger."

"We can be friends can't we?" she suggested.

"Of course. Friends," he repeated.

"Robbie?" Cat said after a comfortable silence.

"Yeah?"

"Thanks."

"For what?"

"For doing this. For taking a chance. Whatever it is that made you decide to do this, I'm thankful you did."

"It really isn't a problem, Cat. I mean, who could say no to a free trip to Palm Springs?" he playfully remarked.

"You have a good point there," she giggled. "But really. Thank you. You're helping me get through this weekend without being shamed."

"No problem. This could turn out to be a great weekend or can bite me in the ass, but no matter what it'll be one decision I've made in a long time that brings interest in my life."

"Great. And I promise I won't ask for much. I mean I like that we're getting to know each other, but…"

"But what?" he waited for her to finish.

"I have one last favor to ask and I really don't know how to ask it. So I'm just going to say it. We need to play up the boyfriend-girlfriend thing."

"Sure. Do you want me to call you nicknames or something? Or should I be the quiet boyfriend?"

"Robbie I want you to be yourself, whatever you want to be. Just be comfortable."

"Thanks, Cat."

"I'm talking more like holding hands, hugging, arm around the shoulder. You know all that touchy-feely stuff?" she suggested.

"Oh, right. Duh. Off course I'll do that. And what about…" Robbie realized the awkward topic Cat was trying to avoid. He suddenly grew nervous as well.

"You mean the PDA?" She sort of brought the subject to surface.

"Yeah. That. We can always go with the whole we don't do the PDA stuff because we like our privacy," he suggested.

"Yeah, that'd be good. But maybe a kiss on the cheek once in a while wouldn't hurt, right?" Cat blushed.

"N-no, that's f-fine," Robbie muttered. He cleared his throat. "I think that's very manageable."

"Ok. So yeah. Uh. That's that then. Oh and how long should we say we've been together?"

"I don't know. Not too long. Say like a month? That's enough to know as much as we know about each other, right? And we'll have more time to get to know one another this weekend… I hope," Robbie whispered the last part. But Cat heard and she smiled. "Yeah, we will."

"Well, I guess we should call it a night, huh? We're checking-in pretty early tomorrow. This actor needs his beauty sleep," Robbie announced.

"Yeah, we should."

Cat realized they had another topic to cover.

"About the sleeping arrangements…"

"I can always sleep on the floor or the couch if you want. I really don't mind."

"No, you shouldn't sleep on the couch, Robbie. I mean you'll never know when Tara or anyone might knock on the door at an odd hour. We can share a bed. It shouldn't be that hard, right?"

"Ok. Sure," Robbie said. They both took one side of the bed and went under the covers. There was a good two feet distance between them on this queen-sized bed. Their room at the resort was king sized so they'd have an extra foot or two of distance for the weekend.

"Goodnight, Robert."

"Goodnight, Caterina."

The following morning, Cat awoke to a warm feeling surrounding her. Only it wasn't a feeling. It was a human body that wrapped around her own. She looked up and saw his face. She admired his sleeping figure; he looked cute in the morning. It was then that she realized she was snuggled into Robbie's chest. How this happened- she had no idea. Then she noticed that they left the window open and the cold air circulated the room. The blanket they had wasn't as thick as they wanted. She concluded that she, and maybe he, probably embraced in the middle of the night to create warmth between them. A part of her wanted to freak out that they were so close, but she honestly didn't want to get up because he was so warm. So she closed her eyes and rested for a while longer. He stirred in his sleep and woke up a few minutes later. When Robbie realized the same thing Cat did just moments ago, he grew worried.

"What the?" He muttered. "Oh chizz!" he whispered. Robbie wormed his way out of his awkward position with Cat and pulled the blanket over her body. He replaced himself with a pillow so Cat would be hugging something and making sure she wouldn't wake up, went to take a shower.

Little did he know Cat wasn't sleeping the entire time. She heard him mutter those words and after hearing the bathroom door shut, she hugged her pillow tighter and smiled faintly.

Robbie finished his shower and woke Cat up after getting ready. While she took hers, he checked-in with Jade and Beck and put their suitcases in the van to get ready to drive to the resort.

"Have a nice sleep?" Beck asked everyone once Cat got to the van.

"I know you did," Robbie winked at Beck.

"Yes I did," he smugly remarked.

"Jesus, Beck, you're like a freaking open book," Jade rolled her eyes.

"What can I say, I have nothing to hide," he smirked. "Anyway, what about you guys?" he gestured to Cat and Robbie. Neither one dared to make eye contact.

"We stayed up talking to figure out the game plan for the weekend," Cat said.

"Yeah just so we're on the right page we figured some things out," Robbie added.

"Get any sleep or did you guys just plan all night?" Jade wondered.

"Some sleep. But we really wanted to plan this weekend," Cat answered.

"Cool," Jade finished. They pulled up to the resort moments later. Beck and Robbie volunteered to bring their suitcases up to their rooms so Jade and Cat could get things situated. After checking off every name on the employee list, confirming hall and banquet reservations for the weekend, talking with security and finalizing the itinerary, Cat and Jade settled for mimosas in the breakfast café before everyone showed up.

"So, you think Robbie's going to pull it off?"

"I think so. We really laid down the rules. And I got to know a bit more about him so we wouldn't have to lie about ourselves you know?"

"That makes sense. So what do we need to know?"

"Uh well Robbie and I have been dating for a month but we're both pretty busy so that's why I never talked to you about it."

"Easy enough," Jade said finishing the last of her drink. "Did he behave in that little time you guys went to sleep?" she speculated.

"Jade, you know he's not that kind of guy," Cat reminded her.

"I know. I'm just making sure. Was he a gentleman and decided to sleep on the floor? At least there's a couch in the rooms at the resort."

"No, he slept on the bed."

"He what?" Jade almost did a spit take.

"He suggested to sleep on the floor, but I insisted. That'd be rude of me to make him do that when he's already doing me a favor."

"Did you two get comfy?" Jade wiggled her eyebrows.

"Shut up, Jade. Nothing happened," Cat tried her best not to blush.

"Are you sure? Because you and Robbie couldn't look at each other all morning?" she interrogated.

"Just because we're pretending to be a couple doesn't mean we have to be a lovey-dovey couple like you and Beck," she stuck her tongue out.

"Shut up, Cat," Jade playfully sneered.

Something certainly happened, but Cat didn't know if it meant anything at all. And she didn't want to make a big deal out of it unless it did mean something. So for now, it was a secret between her and Robbie – if they would ever bring it up.

It was 8:30 and people began to show up. The garden room was reserved for the company welcome breakfast and everyone was excited already. Almost every employee brought someone along. Cat mentally thanked herself that Robbie came with her. Tori and Andre spotted Cat and Jade and walked up to them.

"Hey guys! Wow this place is amazing!" Tori exclaimed.

"Yeah, did you see the size of the pool?! And how many golf courses are there?!" Andre cheered.

"Just one, Andre," Jade said. "But there are 27 holes."

"Oh my chizz! This is going to be an epic weekend!" he fist pumped.

"So, we never got to ask. What happened? Did he show up?" Tori wondered.

Before Cat or Jade could answer, in walked Beck and Robbie. Jade waved at them and they headed over.

"That's him?" Tori asked her manager. Cat nodded.

"Aw he's cute! Like an awkward nerd cute!" Tori whisper-squealed. Cat shook her head and giggled at her friend.

"Hey guys," Beck said immediately wrapping an arm around Jade.

"Well. I didn't know you two were that close," Andre joked.

"You'll get used to him," Robbie said. Tori and Andre smiled. They liked him already.

"Uh guys, this is Robbie Shapiro. Robbie, well I'm sure you know who they are," Cat said.

"Yes of course! Love you both. Really talented people," he shook their hands.

"So Robbie, I think it's really sweet of you to be doing Cat a favor. You're actually doing all of us a favor. We hate Tara."

"Told you," Cat told him.

"It's nothing. I just hope I play my part right," he chuckled nervously.

"Sure you will. Just be you. Only with me," Cat tried making sense.

"Got it," he nodded.

"Ah, speak of the she-devil," Jade pointed towards Haley and her boyfriend.

"That's Tara?" Robbie asked.

"No, that's Haley, Tara's client. Ferguson's daughter," Cat said before turning around to pick up a glass of water on the table behind her.

"That's Tara," Jade pointed to the blonde girl walking past Haley and her boyfriend. Jade's eyes suddenly grew wide. "Oh Fu-"

"Hey guys," Tara interrupted before Jade could finish her thought. "Have you met my boyfriend?"

Everyone was peculiarly silent. Cat probably thought Tara looked ridiculous flaunting a guy in front of them. She knew Tara was going to flaunt a boy in front of her. But nothing Tara could say or do would affect Cat because she had Robbie.

Though she spoke too soon.

She rolled her eyes and turned back around.

"Everyone," Tara announced. "This is-"

"Danny?"


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Surprise! Double update! Well at least where I live I'm updating on the same day. I realized I would be busy alot next week and on top of publishing another story, I don't want to leave you guys hanging like that. So here's the next chapter to hold you over til Tuesday.**

**FlameKat, keep your story, GIVE ME BACK MY BACON! lol no worries. Maybe great minds just think alike ;) Looking forward to that story!**

**And for future instances, if you guys read a story that sounds similar to mine or read mine and it sounds similar to someone else's, don't assume we're stealing from one another. Writers all have different styles, but we have at least one commonality and that's we explore our imaginations. We're bound to come up with similar ideas. There are only so many original ideas out there. Taking a story and adding your own flavor to it is what fanfiction is all about. Spread the love, kids :)**

* * *

"Hey Cat," he cockily grinned.

"Oh wait, duh. Silly me," Tara pretended, "Cat, you obviously know my boyfriend. Danny. _My_. _Boyfriend_."

Cat stared blankly at the man in front of her. Daniel Turner. Her ex-boyfriend.

"Tara what the hell?!" Jade spoke up, breaking Cat from her thoughts.

"What?" she feigned innocence.

"What is _he_ doing here?!" Tori butted in.

"It's nice to see you again too," Danny laughed smugly at Jade and Tori.

"What's going on here?" Beck mouthed to Andre and Robbie.

"He's my boyfriend," Tara once again announced to the group. "We've been dating for almost a year."

"Wait, one year?" Jade raised an eyebrow. "It hasn't even been eight months since-"

Before Jade could finish, Cat boldly interrupted.

"Tara. Danny. This is Robbie. My _boyfriend_," Cat said wrapping herself around Robbie's right arm.

Tara had an expression of pure shock. How Jade and Tori wished they had a camera to savor the moment. Danny, however, did not look phased at all. "_This_ is your boyfriend?" he rudely pointed. "What's up, man," he held his hand out, which Robbie reluctantly shook. "Sorry bro that you had to take my sloppy second."

Robbie, and Beck, finally put the pieces together. That was Cat's ex. And right now, Robbie did _not_ like this guy.

"It's nice to know you're still an asshole, Daniel," Jade spat.

"It's nice to know you're still a gank, Jade," he spat back.

"Bite me," she glared.

"You wish," he mocked. "I see you've got a new man candy with you."

"Hi Danny, I'm Beck," Beck offered his hand to shake and when Danny took it, he squeezed almost all the circulation out of his hand. Danny winced, holding back a whimper.

"Sorry man," Beck smugly grinned.

"So Cat, how long have you and Robbie been dating?" Tara began her snooping.

"Just a month," Cat said.

"You know, you still have time to get out of it, man. Cat won't put out," Danny said.

Robbie, though he only met the guy for five minutes, already hated him. It was then that he realized Tara was one thing to handle, but now add Danny to the mix- an ex boyfriend nevertheless – and it made the situation all the more difficult. So for Cat's sake, he stepped up his game.

"Actually," Robbie countered. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder, much like what Beck was doing to Jade, and pulled her closer to his chest. "Cat is an _amazing_ girl," he looked at the redhead straight in the eyes. She smiled, mentally thanking him. "And as for romance," Robbie turned to Danny and tipped his glasses to his nose to meet eye to eye with him, "did Cat ever tell you she was a gymnast and a dancer before getting into the entertainment business?"

"N-no…" Danny said wide-eyed.

Robbie lowered his voice and flashed a lopsided grin. "Well let's just say I'm glad she did," he winked.

Everyone, excluding Cat and Robbie, had their jaws hanging from their mouths. Cat blushed and Robbie kept his game face on, never once breaking.

"Alright everyone, take your seats. We'll be serving breakfast in a minute," Trina announced. This broke everyone's attention.

"Well I guess we'll be seeing you guys later. Come on, Danny," Tara tugged him and walked towards the front tables near Mr. Ferguson.

The remaining six sat at the nearest table.

"Well if that wasn't the most riled up conversation I've had," Andre commented.

"Did you know Danny was Tara's boyfriend?" Tori asked Jade.

"Hell no. I thought that guy fell off the face of the earth. Ugh he's such an asshole. Cat are you ok?" Jade patted her shoulder.

"Yeah I'm fine, Jade. It's just a shock you know? Nobody saw it coming," Cat said.

"So, I'm just going to throw it out there… Did Cat and this Danny kid used to date or something?" Beck asked.

"Yeah for a while," Andre answered.

"Tara is such a gank for even dating him afterwards though," Tori explained.

"Yeah but remember what they said about how long they've-"

"Guys, can we not talk about them for like just right now? Please?" Cat begged.

"Sure, Cat," Andre said. Everyone nodded in agreement.

"Wait," Jade said.

"What?" Cat asked.

"I thought you said all you guys did was talk last night?"

"We did," Robbie answered.

"Then what was that remark about gymnastics and stuff?" she raised an eyebrow. Beck, Andre and Tori's expressions grew into smirks.

"Jade, nothing happened," Cat insisted. "I'm serious."

"Why are you getting nervous then?" she instigated.

"Because, socially awkward people get nervous easily," Robbie stated. "And when Cat and I were getting to know each other she mentioned that she used to do gymnastics."

"But you played it out that you and Cat have hooked up already. And you didn't. Unless you did," Beck suggested smiling proudly at Robbie.

"No, we haven't," Robbie said. "Ok yeah I may have exaggerated a bit, but what I said was true nonetheless. There was no lie. I let him think what he wanted to think."

"So you like that Cat took gymnastics?" Tori questioned.

"Yeah, but that's because Cat told me that because she was so active in the arts as a girl, she wanted to be in the entertainment business. And because of that, she became your manager. Wouldn't you be glad about that, Tori?"

"Huh. Makes sense. Wow, you're really good at this!" Tori giggled.

"Thanks?" Robbie answered.

* * *

After breakfast, Mr. Ferguson requested only one meeting with the management team for the entire retreat. Andre, Tori, Beck and Robbie decided to hangout upstairs in Andre and Tori's room while Cat and Jade stayed for the meeting.

"So, Robbie. Beck. What do you think about the trip so far?" Tori asked as the handed the guys water bottles and sat on Andre's lap.

"It's great. Though I didn't expect to make an enemy so soon," Beck chuckled.

"Welcome to our lives," Andre chuckled as well.

"God, when Jade described her I just thought she was exaggerating," Beck said. "Turns out she was being kind. That Tara is a bit-"

"Hey man, language. We've got a lady in the room," Andre warned. Tori hugged her boyfriend for being considerate.

"Hey, can I ask you guys something?" Robbie spoke up.

"It's about Danny, huh?" Tori guessed. Robbie nodded. She exchanged a glance with Andre before turning back to Robbie.

"Look, Robbie, I don't know how much Cat has told you about her ex-boyfriend but whatever question you have about him she should be the one telling you."

"Yeah, the only thing we can really tell you is that they used to date, but he broke her heart. Like shattered it."

"Andre!"

"What? It's true."

"Ok fine, it's true. He hurt her real bad. Not physically though. He… cheated on her. Anyway, you obviously know Tara's her arch enemy so finding out that the man that broke her heart is dating her enemy, well that pretty much crossed the line for her."

"Well that just makes the plot more complicating," Beck commented.

"No chizz," Andre agreed.

"What are your ground rules with Cat this weekend? We want to make sure we do our part," Tori asked.

"Uh, well first of all we agreed not to lie more than what is already laid out there. And she just basically wants us to act normal, since we really are meeting each other for the first time."

"What about the intimacy part?" Beck asked.

Tori glared at him.

"What?! I'm sure you're all wondering too!" he defended.

"I may have said that suggested comment, but I can assure you guys that I'm being a gentleman."

Tori breathed a sigh of relief. "Good. Or I'll kill you," She joked.

"Cat did say that we can hold hands and be all touchy feely so don't be surprised there."

"And what about kissing?" Andre asked.

"Andre!"

"What? It's a legitimate question, babe," he defended.

"A kiss on the cheek won't hurt, right?" Robbie asked.

"But what about on the lips?" Tori asked.

"Look who's eager now," Beck smirked. He and Andre high fived.

"I don't know. I don't think we need to, do we?" Robbie wondered.

"Maybe not _need_, but probably _want_," Andre and Beck whispered to each other.

* * *

Meanwhile, Cat and Jade had a few minutes to talk during the meeting.

"Are you sure you're ok, Cat? I mean this whole Danny thing is news to everyone."

"I'm ok, Jade. I just want to make it through the weekend."

"You say that like it's a bad thing."

"Tara is here and now Danny. On top of that I've got Robbie into this mess. How is that not a bad thing?"

"Ok maybe there are a few road blocks but this is still our retreat so you need to relax a little. Just enjoy yourself. Get to know Robbie. You said it yourself you'd like to be friends with him regardless."

"You're right," she took a deep breath, "I'll just focus on relaxing. So long as Tara doesn't blow my head off."

"I'll make sure she doesn't."

"Yeah because you'll have time to watch her while you suck face with Beck all weekend," her best friend remarked.

"Hey, Beck's hot. You can't deny that. And besides, Tori's right. Robbie's like a cute nerd. I should be the one telling you to keep your hands to yourself, little miss. Who knows what one intimate night in a luxurious resort can do between two people," Jade winked.

"Jade," Cat warned, though she felt a blush creeping up.

"Ok fine, I'll stop. But Cat, I hope Danny won't get to you. You know he's moved on and he's probably just going to torture you as much as Tara will."

"No, I know. I think it's been long enough to finally get over him."

"Good. And I think you should tell Robbie about him. He kind of deserves to know after doing you that huge favor."

"I know, I'll talk to him tonight."

Mr. Ferguson scheduled for everyone to have a meet and greet with him individually during the lunch hour. This was a chance for him to get to know his employees individually and to people like Tara, kiss his butt. He first met with Tara and Danny, slowly remembering Danny as Cat's old flame, but didn't bother to bring it up. Of course Tara schmoozed him and he was having a good time laughing and talking sports with Danny. After meeting with other employees and their significant others, he reached Jade. Beck and Mr. Ferguson hit it off pretty well. Mr. Ferguson knew Jade not being one to commit, but even he saw that Beck may be a long-term guy. Beck and Mr. Ferguson talked about drag racing and food, random but nevertheless things the two men had in common. He thoroughly enjoyed his time with Jade and Beck. Drawing the end of lunch, Ferguson finally made it to Cat and Robbie. The two were having lunch in the patio, away from the banquet room, so Ferguson only saved them for last because he couldn't find them.

"Hey Cat!"

"Hi Mr. Ferguson," she waved.

"Now Cat, what did I say?" he sternly asked. Though she knew he wasn't being serious.

"I'm sorry. It's formality," she giggled.

"And who might this gentleman be?" he noticed Robbie.

"Craig Ferguson, this is Robbie Shapiro," she introduced the two men.

"And how do you two know each other?" he playfully interrogated.

"We've been dating for about a month," he said.

"He's a really great guy," Cat said. That comment caught Robbie off guard and he smiled at her.

"Young love," Mr. Ferguson sighed blissfully. This prompted Cat and Robbie both to blush.

"So Robbie, what line of work do you do?"

"I'm also in the entertainment industry. Well sort of. It's how Cat and I met."

"Really? Whom do you work for?"

"ABC. I do music editing for a TV show."

"Ah Shapiro," Mr. Ferguson said. "That's why you're name sounded familiar. I think you called the office a few times for copyright on some songs for episodes huh? I remember Trina telling me."

"Trina's his assistant," Cat filled him in.

"Oh yeah I remember speaking with Trina. Yes that was probably me. I mean what can I say, you've got some of the best talents under your label, sir."

"Call me Craig," Mr. Ferguson said raising his beverage to Robbie. Robbie picked up his water and touched glasses with him.

"I don't know what it is about you my boy, but I like you. And that says a lot because Cat is one of my best talent managers."

"He's being modest. It's all Tori," Cat said.

"Don't sell yourself short, Cat. Yes Tori is amazing, but you two are a team."

"Exactly. A team. It was a team effort," Cat said.

"You know how hard it is to pay a compliment to this woman?" Robbie joked.

Mr. Ferguson laughed in agreement.

"You've got a pretty funny guy here, Cat," he said.

"He sure does make me laugh," Cat agreed. It was slowly becoming her favorite thing about him.

"If your career ever flops you can definitely do comedy," he told Robbie.

"Well I'm here 'til Sunday," Robbie smirked.

Mr. Ferguson erupted into a fit of hysterics.

"Robbie, anytime you need to use a song just tell Trina I give you full permission," he said after catching his breath.

"Thank you, sir," Robbie was amazed.

"You do any freelance work?"

"Rarely, but I have in the past."

"We should sit down sometime to talk about a project of mine that I'm working with. I would love some help with the music to feature." Mr. Ferguson handed him a business card.

"Will do," Robbie accepted it and handed him one of his own.

"I like you, Robbie. Cat, you really picked a good one," he winked.

"Thanks," she blushed.

After Mr. Ferguson got up and was out of sight, Cat turned to Robbie and smacked his arm.

"Ow what was that for?" he rubbed his elbow.

"You told me you were socially awkward. That was _not_ awkward at all!" Cat hissed.

"What was that then?" he asked.

"That was… perfect," she muttered.

"Well I wanted to make a good impression on your boss for you," he defended.

"You sure as hell did. He doesn't give his business card to just anyone."

"Really?"

"Yeah, he must really like you. Thanks."

"Cat, you need to stop saying thanks," Robbie said.

"Ok fine. Shall we go mingle with the rest?"

"Sure. What's on the agenda for today?"

"Ferguson got us free access to the resort so anything really. We don't do any official things as a company other than dining today. Tomorrow and Sunday is when we do corporate bonding stuff. So think of it as a free day."

"Alright. Well what would you like to do?"

"Do you like outdoorsy stuff or are you more of an indoor kind of guy?"

"I'm whatever you are," he said.

"Well I'm not a fun person but since we are in a resort, let's do something fun."

Robbie took the brochure Cat was holding and checked off the amenities offered.

"Want to take a bike ride down the path? Oh we can go to the lake and feed some ducks!"

"Sure. Do you want to see if Jade and everyone want to tag along or should it just be us?"

"We'll have our time alone. Let's ask the others. The more the merrier!"


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: It's past midnight. It's Tuesday. Update! Sorry for the long wait. Good news and Bad news. The good: here's the next chapter. The bad: I'll be busy for the next two days. Duty calls. So Friday? Maybe if I have time tonight I'll update again. This story isn't long, we're either halfway or more than halfway now, I forget. Anyways, enjoy!**

* * *

After a long and eventful day – bike riding, tennis, dinner and a show – the gang retired to their rooms at around 9 PM. Cat and Robbie sat on their respective sides of the bed with a greater distance between them since it was king-sized. They channel surfed for a while, trying to find something to watch. But channel surfing never really resulted to finding a decent show to watch, so they ended up making conversation.

"Did you have a nice time today?" she asked.

"Oh yeah definitely. The trail was amazing," he complimented.

"I know right? And the ducks were so adorable! They looked so serene at the lake."

"Yeah until Jade pushed Beck into the lake for trying to cop a feel in public."

"Gosh those two. They can't keep their hands off of each other."

"I think it's strangely cute. He obviously adores her."

"Well they did consummate their relationship, as Beck would say," Cat reminded him.

"True. Do you think they'll last?"

"Jade isn't the long-term kind of girl. She dates a guy and when she's bored she moves on to the next one. I don't really know Beck but he's dangerously handsome."

"They seem like the perfect match then."

"I guess you can look at it that way," Cat agreed.

"So… are you ok with the current situation? I mean you know… with…"

"You mean Danny?"

He slowly nodded.

Cat heavily sighed. She knew she had to tell him about it. So she might as well just tell him now.

"Danny and I dated for almost three years. I was so in love with him. At least I thought I was. He made me feel alive. Like I meant something. He was really nice to me and everything. Which is why I wondered what I ever did to have him cheat on me. Was I not good enough for him? I mean I may not have been as outgoing as he was or as fun, but I was faithful, you know?"

Robbie nodded but stayed quiet. He knew she had more to say.

"I always thought that the girl he cheated with must have been someone like a freaking goddess or something because I really didn't know what it was that was missing from me that he saw in another woman. Jade told me I was too good to him that he traded down. And today hearing Tara was the girl he cheated and stayed with. Well that's a lot to take in."

"Whoa."

"Yeah."

"H-how did you just now find out it was Tara?" he asked. "Don't you work with her?"

"At work, it was all about work. That was probably the only good thing I liked about my feud with Tara. Yes, she stuck it to me when I went through my break up, but she never admitted that she was the other woman. But for the most part Tara and I would argue over Tori and Haley."

"Oh I see," Robbie said. "So how'd this come up?"

"Like I said, Tara wanted Ferguson's attention this weekend so she brought up her personal life and my obvious pathetic life."

"Cat," Robbie warned her not to degrade herself. She sadly smiled.

"She must have known how to make my weekend even worse because she had my boyfriend. And to make matters worse, she knew before I lied that I hadn't dated another guy after him because I was torn up. We broke up barely eight months ago. Tara said they've been dating for almost a year. That would mean he was cheating on me even before I caught him. Four months. He was cheating for four months."

Cat could feel that Robbie was growing tense. His fists balled up and he was breathing heavily. She delicately placed a hand on one of his fists and he made eye contact with her. She was telepathically telling him to calm down. And he did.

"Well, it's his loss," Robbie mumbled. "Because I don't think I've met anyone as great as you."

"Thanks," she shrugged. Then she felt uncomfortable. So, turning the tables, she decided to ask him about his life. "What about you? What's the story with your last girlfriend?"

"Oh," he chuckled, "Alright if you want a lame story I'll tell you."

"Oh come on, Rob. Didn't you just hear mine? It's pathetic. I don't think you can get worse than that."

"Her name was Gabriella. We dated for seven years. She's actually the only girlfriend I've ever had," he admitted.

"Well I wouldn't doubt it. Seven years? Wow!" Cat exclaimed.

"Yeah, so basically we planned our whole future out together. Since we dated in high school we planned college together and until a year ago everything else. Then one day I come home to our apartment and she tells me that it's not working out. That she didn't want to settle with a mundane life. And you thought you were boring?" he chuckled.

Even during a sad story he seemed to find humor out of it. Cat noticed and liked that about him.

"So she packed her bags and left. A week later I hear from my friend Sinjin that she hooked up with one of her coworkers, a BMX rider, and moved in with him almost immediately. It didn't surprise me seeing as he kept calling and hanging around her and she always told me it was platonic. But I guess he was the fun she's looking for. I haven't dated anyone since then. I focused on my career for the past year or so."

"Aw look at us, nothing but a couple of boring, socially awkward adults," Cat giggled.

"Oh that sounds so horrible," he laughed along.

"But hey, it's their loss. Fun is always a great trait to have, but it can burn out easily. Sensitivity and sweet lasts forever," Cat said.

"I'll drink to that!" Robbie said. "You want a drink?"

"Sure. I think there's a wine in the mini-fridge."

Robbie fetched the red wine while Cat grabbed two glasses on the table. They toasted one another and continued their conversation, learning more and more about each other and their past relationships. They were a notch past tipsy, but not drunk enough to do anything they'd regret.

"So he was wearing a turtle neck in the middle of the summer and you had no clue that he was hiding something from you?" Robbie was bemused.

"Nope. I was so oblivious. Like maybe he was getting sick or something."

"Cat, first of all, no one wears turtlenecks anymore." They both laughed. "And second, God you must have really been blinded by love because that's the most obvious cover up a guy can do."

"Ok, ok I get it, I was blind," she giggled before sipping some more wine.

"It's ok. That's nothing compared to my blinders. Gabriella would tell me that she needed to go to Ryan's shows, the BMX riding co-worke, as a company policy. Something about supporting one another to work better as a team. They worked in the accounting department at the Bank on First Street."

"Oh wow, and you didn't question it?"

"Well she always told me that they were just friends so I assumed it was a friendly thing. I mean for all I know she probably hooked up with him before we broke up. But I guess it doesn't matter anymore, right?"

"You know what?" Cat said. "That's so true!" she raised her glass.

"Definitely," he touched cups with her.

"Hey, I've been meaning to ask. How'd you know that Danny didn't know I did gymnastics?"

"Because by the look of him and the very little I knew about you, he probably didn't care about your past and really only cared about your current likes and dislikes and all that junk. Am I right?"

"How'd you know?" she was astonished.

"I did a double major in psychology. I can sort of read people's minds. I'm a psychic!" he bragged.

"Oh yeah?" Cat challenged him, "then what am I thinking right now?"

"Hm," Robbie looked at her for a minute. "Well, you're thinking that you're actually enjoying your time right now despite that I keep wanting to bring him up. He's hurt you enough that you try not to talk about him but this coping and almost empty bottle of red wine is helping."

"Robbie that's too easy," Cat giggled. But she was impressed that he was right.

"You didn't let me finish," he said. "You're also thinking that I'm awesome!" he cheered before falling backwards off the bed.

"Oh gosh, Robbie are you ok?" Cat laughed. She helped him up and sat him on his side of the bed.

"I think I'm done drinking for the night," he stated.

"Hehe, I think I am too. You want to call it a night?" she said putting their glasses in the sink. Walking back, she saw that Robbie was dozing off but he was still sitting up. He as about to fall off the bed before Cat came back in time to catch him and prop his body up. She hadn't noticed how close they were because his weight was basically leaning on her petite figure. She looked at Robbie, his eyes half lidded. He was trying his best to stay awake but it was obvious he was about ready to knock out. Smiling to herself, she took off his glasses and placed them on his bed side table. Ruffling his already messy hair, she tried getting him to comply and go under the covers. Oh how Cat had that motherly instinct in her. What with having to deal with Jade and several drunken nights, she was used to taking care of people. Tucking him in, thoughts were running through her mind. She didn't really take appreciation to what he did for her that day until now. And this wasn't the wine talking because she was sobering up much faster than he was. Especially since she was in her motherly mode.

"Cat?" he mumbled.

"Yeah?"

"Am I going to be alone for the rest of my life?"

She could tell he was semi-conscious. Especially since his tone switched to one of a somber and frail voice.

"No, you're much more interesting than I am. It's me that'll die alone," she giggled.

"No," he said as she tucked him into bed. Yes, _tucked_. "You're really cool and pretty too."

She tried to hide a blush, which was pointless since he probably didn't know what he was saying. "You'll find someone, Robbie."

"And you will too," Cat told him. He finally laid his head down on his pillow and was seconds away from sleep. Cat took her place on the other side of the bed, this time making sure the windows were shut so it wouldn't get cold. As she turned off the lights, Robbie spoke up.

"Goodnight, Cat."

By this time almost five minutes had passed. She was surprised that he was still somewhat awake.

"Goodnight, Robbie."

Maybe, just maybe, this weekend wouldn't be so bad.

Robbie woke up a bit earlier than Cat, at around 5:30 AM, wanting to take a nice jog. Before leaving, he glanced over at a peaceful Cat, sleeping with nothing to worry about at least until she woke up. For some reason he was pulled to her and he wanted to make that day one to remember. Starting from when she woke up.

She got up about a half hour later. Trying to rub the sleep away from her eyes, she spotted a note on her nightstand.

_Good Morning Cat,  
__Went out for a jog. Didn't want to wake you because you looked so peaceful. Would you like to have breakfast with me this morning?  
__Robbie :]_

Cat giggled at his sloppy looking smiley face. She always wondered why guys just couldn't draw a decent smiley face. Nevertheless, she wrote a response on another sticky note and put it on his nightstand before hopping into the shower. She already felt like this day wouldn't be so bad.

Robbie came back at around 6:30 AM to an empty hotel room. He wondered if Cat found the note or if she never noticed and went to see about Jade or Tori. His question was answered when he found his own yellow sticky on his nightstand.

_Morning Robbie **:)**  
__I would __**love**__ to have breakfast. Tori and I are going to have a brief meeting with our team, but I'll meet you at the café near the other hotel where we stayed at say 7:30?  
__See you soon, Cat_

Robbie couldn't help but chuckle at the size of the smiley face. It was fairly large and it looked almost too perfectly drawn. He checked the clock and saw that he had only enough time to shower and get ready before hailing a cab to café. For a guy who never planned nor cared what to wear, he was growing nervous finding the right outfit for a simple breakfast.

"Alright you guys, thanks for the brief meeting. Sorry again for taking in some of your vacation time to talk business," Cat said to Tori and two other people.

"It's ok, Cat. At least we had it in the morning. Now we can enjoy the rest of the day," Tori pointed.

The other two employees agreed.

"Great so I'll see you guys at 10. I've got something to do."

When the two other team members left, Cat gathered her things and fiddled with her PearPod to find a song of Tori's to listen to.

"So where are you headed off to this early in the morning?" Tori said. Cat hadn't noticed she was still in the room.

"Oh you know just having breakfast with Robbie."

"What time?"

"7:30."

"It's 7:15. I'm sure you'll get downstairs on time," Tori assured her.

"Oh, we're meeting at a café not too far from here. Like a five minute drive or something. I wanted to give him some time since he went out jogging this morning. I hope he saw the note but I don't expect him to be on time. You know me, I like to be punctual."

"Yeah but you like coming early to things, not on time," Tori laughed. "And why are you guys going somewhere else? It's free for the retreat."

"We just wanted something for the two of us, that's all," Cat shrugged.

"Wait… Is there something going on?" Tori suspected.

"What? No. Can't two people have breakfast together without having fifty people around to interrupt them?" Cat sounded defensive.

"Ok, ok. I'm sorry," Tori surrendered her arms.

As the two walked out of the meeting room Cat turned to Tori.

"Um, can you not tell anyone, though?"

"If this is just a friendly thing, then why can't I tell anyone, hmm?" Tori raised an eyebrow.

"Shut up, Tor," Cat stuck her tongue out and left.

"She totally digs him," Tori said to herself.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: You asked, so now here it is. Double update! Next update on Friday. Enjoy!**

* * *

Cat arrived at the café at around 7:25. This was right on time in her book. She had been too indulged with listening and analyzing Tori's song on her PearPod to notice that Robbie had already arrived at the café and saved a table for them. He waved her down and she walked over to him, putting her phone and pearpod away. Robbie was acting like a true gentleman, standing up and waiting for her to get to their table. He kindly pulled her chair out and she smiled, admiring his chivalry.

"Good morning, Cat."

"Good morning. Robbie. Did you have a nice jog?"

"Yeah it's so nice here in the morning. So quiet," he smiled. "How was your meeting? Everything alright?"

"Oh yeah. It's nothing huge. We just wanted to make sure Tori's next event was confirmed a go. Since I had to leave early on Thursday I wanted to touch base with them. But I promise you that's all the work I have to do so I'm good for the weekend."

"No it's fine. Sometimes duty calls," he said. "Oh and I ordered us coffee. Caramel Macchiato ok for you?"

"It's my favorite, how'd you know?"

"Lucky guess?" he said. "And it's the sweetest thing here. Just like you," he blushed. Cat giggled at his cheesy pickup. Then she realized why was he getting nervous? _Was this a date? Well he did seem dressed up a bit._ As did she, but that was because of her meeting. Though she couldn't deny that he was looking particularly cute with his red polo shirt and dark blue jeans. _So what if it was a date? _She told herself. _This could just be a friend date_. And plus, if anyone were to see them, they were pretending to be a couple anyway.

"Cat?" he said, breaking her from her thoughts.

"Yeah?"

"I asked if you wanted to eat something or just get some pastries and wait to eat at brunch?"

"Uh, a muffin would be fine," she told the waiter who appeared in front of them, probably during Cat's daydream.

"I'll take a scone, please," Robbie told the waiter.

"So today we've got the brunch, then the first corporate bonding is the rock climbing gym. Then we've got a nice nature walk before dinner. Then after that a cocktail party in the banquet hall."

"Cocktail party. Sounds fancy," he chuckled. "And really fun. I can't wait."

While snacking on their pastries in comfortable silence, Cat and Robbie played the looking game. Every time one would look up and try to steal a glance at the other, they would glance at the same time, grow shy, blush, and look away from one another. This went on until the waiter came back offering them refills to their drinks. Cat decided she couldn't play these silent games all morning. She wanted to get a conversation going at least.

"So, where'd you go on vacation as a kid? I mean, did you go on a lot of vacations with your family?" she asked him.

"Not a lot. But not because we couldn't afford it, my parents were always busy," he explained. "My favorite would be when we'd go to New Jersey on some summers."

"New Jersey? Do you have family there?"

"My mom's parents. It's where she was born and grew up. My dad's side lived in Germany and we visited every now and then, but New Jersey was where my parents met and well the rest was history you know?"

"Then why'd you guys move to LA?"

"Easy. Have you been to the East Coast? The weather is strongly winter or strongly summer. Why not have summer all the time? So my parents hopped at the first chance to get away from their hometown and their parents. They got eloped in Vegas and moved to Santa Barbara to start a family. That's where my brother and I come in. Eventually, their families forgave them, only because they threatened to never let them meet their grandsons without accepting what they did."

"That's crazy but in a romantic way," Cat giggled.

"Yeah, so whenever we'd visit Jersey, my grandpa would take us to the drive-in movie theater and we'd watch a bunch of movies. It was awesome."

"Drive-in? As in, watching a film on a huge wall in your car," Cat clarified.

"Exactly. Did you know New Jersey was the home of the first drive-in?"

"No actually, I didn't."

"Have you ever been to a drive-in?"

"I've watched IMAX. Isn't that the same, if not better?"

"IMAX is pretty great, I'll admit. But it's the whole feeling you get when you're at a drive-in. It's… an experience. And well that's how I got a love for movies and eventually soundtracks of movies since I'm so into music."

"Aw so it sort of introduced you to your future," Cat smiled.

"I guess," Robbie agreed. "What about you? Where's your favorite vacation? And did that get you to become a talent manager?"

"Not exactly," Cat chuckled. "I loved going to Florida to visit my grandparents. Since my mom was from there, we'd visit all the time. The beach and Disney World was like LA so it really wasn't much of a difference moving from coast to coast."

"That's cool. So how does your career come in?"

"Remember how I said I can sing?"

"Yeah, but you have yet to sing to me," he reminded her.

"We'll see," she coyly stated. "Well I was really into performing so I went to a performing arts school. There was a Karaoke contest at a local restaurant near the school one night so Tori and I decided to sing."

"How'd you do?" he asked.

"Standing ovation," she said bluntly.

"Standing ovation? That's awesome!"

"Yeah, but when they announced the winners, it went to Haley and Tara."

"You mean Haley Ferguson and Tara Ganz? Tara the she-devil?"

"Robbie!" Cat was appalled.

"That's what Jade said," he defended.

"That's still no reason to call her that," she playfully hit his arm. "But yes. Them. I've known them for a really long time. Anyway, Tori was much braver than I was so she didn't let it get to her. See, Mr. Ferguson owned the place so obviously he would make his daughter and her best friend winners by default. We made a huge fuss about it and Tori and I were banned from singing there. I had low self-esteem since then. So instead, I became Tori's manager because she liked the songs I wrote."

"You mean you wrote Tori's songs?"

"Just two. Make it Shine and All I Want is Everything."

"Just tw- CAT! Those are two of her most popular songs of all time! Not to mention All I Want is Everything is my _favorite_ Tori Vega song," he shared.

"I'm not scared to perform, Robbie. I'm just not interested in wasting my talent when all I know is that Tara will come up with a way to tear apart all the effort I put into a song."

"That's stage fright, Cat."

"No it's not. I can dance, Robbie. And I can juggle, and do everything else… BUT SING."

"Well I hope one day you'll find a different reason to sing because that's such a shame for your talent to be wasted by silence… and a she-devil who's after your soul," he told her.

"I will take that first part as words of encouragement, and that second part as a scary feeling that Jade's evil side is slowly rubbing off on you," she giggled.

"We're just looking out for you," he smiled.

"Thanks," she replied.

"Hey, not to sound weird or anything. But about last night…" he began. Cat started to panic. She didn't remember if they had ended up cuddling like the night before, but she could have sworn the room wasn't that cold.

"Y-yeah?"

"Has anyone ever told you… that you like to hog the blanket," he chuckled. Cat was slightly relieved that they hadn't cuddled, though she became embarrassed at what he said.

"I'm sorry, I guess I just like to be comfortable when I sleep," she defended.

"That's cool. But I didn't wan to freeze like the night before," he said. "Good thing that room wasn't too cold. And thanks for shutting the windows."

"Well," she started. "Maybe since the bed is a bit larger, we're further apart. What if we just scoot a bit closer?" she suggested. She was hesitant, but for some reason she didn't regret asking.

"A-are you sure about that? I don't want it to be awkward," he asked nervously.

"We could put a pillow in between us or something."

"Uhhh… Yeah. That'd be fine… if you're ok with it…"

"Yeah… as long as you're ok with it too…"

"Ok," he said.

"Ok…" she responded.

"So, we're ok?" he smiled hopefully.

"Yes. I guess we are," she couldn't help but return the smile.

The moment was ruined all too soon by Cat's phone beeping.

"Oh, well that's our cue."

"Huh?" Robbie was confused.

"It's Jade. She's wondering where I am because they're about to start brunch. Ready to head back?" she asked while getting up.

"Sure. Shall we?" he extended his arm towards the direction they were walking to.

"Hehe yeah. We shall." Absentmindedly, Robbie placed a hand at the small of her back and guided her out the door. She found his touch warm and protective. "Since I drove, we can take the van."

"Great. I don't think I remember how to get back to the hotel anyways if I followed," he chuckled. She laughed along until her phone beeped again. It was another text from Jade.

_Cat, when you come down, bring Robbie with you. Tara GANK is parading Danny all over Ferguson. It's sickening and he's obviously loving the attention. Hurry your ass over here! Unless you're 'pre-occupied' at the moment… Then I'll give you a few more minutes ;) _– Jade

Ignoring the last part, Cat's hesitance crept back in her mind. Tara was currently flaunting Danny all over her boss; more importantly, Danny was enjoying himself. Was she really letting him get in her mind again? _No, Cat. Stop. Don't let Danny ruin your morning, let alone you're whole day. Robbie started it right. Don't mess it up_, she was telling herself. _Robbie. Maybe I should tell him what Tara and Danny are up to. So he can be prepar-_

"Hey, you ever watch the movie 'Raise Your Voice'?" he interrupted her internal argument.

"The one with Hillary Duff? Yeah, it was a great movie. The singing was amazing."

"Wasn't it? The entire soundtrack was awesome! I totally asked my mom for the soundtrack for Christmas."  
"Now I see what you mean when you say this is your passion," she giggled. "But why'd you bring it up? You want to watch it later?"

"Maybe," he said, "But I was going to say that I think I recognize this place and I know that parts of the movie was filmed in Palm Springs."

"That's cool. Robbie, you know you're full of fun facts," Cat smiled.

"It's what I do," he joked. "And I figured I'm already socially awkward, but I don't want to be boring," he stuck his tongue out.

"You're far from boring to me," she told him. He blushed but didn't realize soon enough to hide it.

Cat adored his blush. She liked a lot of things about him. So much that she forgot why she was worrying in the first place, and not once since then did she remember, nor did she remember Danny and Tara were in the room once they met up with Jade and the others. Robbie only had that affect on Cat, whatever that effect was. And for the first time, Cat had no sign of worry on her face and in her mind.

"Finally!" Jade exclaimed. "You guys are missing out on Ferguson schmoozing."

"Jade, you know that's not how I do things," Cat reasoned.

"I know but Tara's playing dirty and you need to get on her level," Jade explained. Robbie had moved over to the guys at the table and Jade focused her attention on him before turning back to Cat. "Unless you know, you were already playing dirty before you got here, if you know what I mean," she winked at her best friend.

"Yes, I know what you mean. And no, we didn't do anything dirty, you freak," Cat hit her friend's arm.

"So you admit you were doing something," she tried to pry anything out of her.

"What gives what I did before this and who I did things with or without."

"Things?! How many things did you do with Robbie?" Jade was amazed.

"Why are you concluding that I was with Robbie?" Cat raised an eyebrow.

"Tori told me," she simply replied.

"Did someone say my name?" Tori cheerily walked up to them.

Cat slapped her arm.

"Ow! Cat, what was that for?!"

"For telling someone!"

"I'm sorry, you know Jade. She'll get whatever she wants out of people."

"Why did you feel like you had to hide your secret rendezvous with Robbie?" Jade smirked.

"You just said 'secret' rendezvous. Didn't you answer your own question?" Cat smart mouthed.

"And what is this secret that you two just had to do outside of the hotel?" Jade was having fun interrogating.

"Ooooh this sounds juicy!" Tori squealed.

"Nothing. It's not a secret, I swear," Cat sighed. "I don't even know why I asked Tori not to tell anyone."

"I know why," Tori raised her hand.

"Tori, everyone knows why," Jade laughed.

"Uh except me," Cat felt left out.

"And Robbie," Tori added.

"What?" Cat was confused.

"Isn't it obvious you guys are so into each other?" Jade stated.

"What? Jade you know we have to put on an act in front of everyone," Cat said. "Plus, we're friends now, if you want to put a label to it."

"Well I'm not quite sure what's a front and what's friendly anymore," she said.

"W-well maybe we're just great actors then," Cat said.

"Sure," Tori and Jade both said before laughing at the blushing redhead.

"Good morning everyone," Mr. Ferguson announced while standing at a podium in the front of the room. "I hope you guys enjoyed your first day here at the Resort. Isn't this a nice place?"

All his employees rooted and whistled for a positive response.

"This place is definitely something. Well you guys better eat up because at 12:30 we're going rock climbing!"

Mr. Ferguson sat down and enjoyed a lovely conversation with Haley, her boyfriend, Tara, Danny and his wife. Of course, Tara was hogging up most of the conversation with Danny smirking at everything she was saying.

Cat, Jade, Tori, Andre, Beck and Robbie found a table a few tables away from where they were and indulged in a conversation of their own. Currently, Andre was drowning his pancakes with powdered sugar and whipped cream, Robbie was dipping his bacon in syrup, and Beck was sandwiching his eggs, bacon and hash browns between two pancakes.

"Jesus. Boys really are pigs," Jade gagged at their peculiar eating habits.

"Wuh?" Andre asked, mouth half full.

"Andre, table manners! Don't talk with your mouth full," his girlfriend scolded.

"Sowwy Babe," he said, ignoring the fact that his mouth was still full.

"We aren't pigs," Beck said before attempting to bite into his pancake sandwich, only resulting in it falling apart because the pancakes were too light. Now a big jumbled mess was on his plate.

"Beck, don't you da-" Jade started. But before she could finish, Beck grabbed his fork and dug into his pile of breakfast.

"What's the matter you guys?" Robbie said before dipping another bacon strip in syrup and popping it in his mouth.

"Ew. Gross," Tori said as the other two girls agreed.

"What?" Robbie asked.

"You guys eat so much like…" Cat began.

"Guys," Jade finished.

"Yeah, and?" Andre finally spoke after chewing and swallowing his mouth full of food.

"It's gross," Tori said. "And you guys put way too much sugar on your stuff."

"We like the sweet taste," Robbie said.

"Do you like diabetes too?" Cat asked.

"We're perfectly aware of our sugar intake, Cat," Robbie smiled at her.

"Says the guys who dips his greasy bacon strip in a pool of syrup AND eating syrup drenched pancakes as well," Tori retorted.

"Ladies, ladies. There is no need to get angry. We'll cut down the sugar then," Andre said. He, Robbie and Beck exchanged sneaky glances.

"After this," Beck quickly said before the three of them stuffed their faces with their sugar soaked breakfast. The girls wanted to get angry but their race to see who could stuff as much food in their mouths was just too funny to take seriously. They erupted in a fit of laughter once Beck deemed to have finished his plate of food first before Robbie and Andre. All the guys' faces were smothered in syrup and grease. They looked like 5 year olds.

"Sometimes I wonder if my boyfriend is 5 or 25," Tori laughed before kissing her boyfriend on his forehead, the one place there was no food.

"Seriously, Beck. That was disgusting," Jade said wiping his face.

"What, babe? It all goes in the same place and out the same place too," Beck defended.

"Ew, gross!" Tori squealed but his remark made them all laugh, especially since all three guys high-fived at his comment. Jade threw her napkin at him for being disgusting, but she couldn't help but continue to laugh. Cat was giggling at their barbaric behavior; this was a fun side of Robbie she had never seen. She finally looked at her date as he was wiping his face off.

"Oh, you missed a spot," she said pointing to a fleck of ketchup on his cheekbone.

"Where?" Robbie was licking his face like an idiot.

"Here," Cat giggled. Yep, he really was a child sometimes. She grabbed her napkin and leaned closer to him, wiping the ketchup stain from his cheeks.

"There," she said. They were in close proximity from each other. Closer than they've ever been, aside from when they absentmindedly cuddled in bed one night. They smiled at one another, blushes daring to creep on both their cheeks.

"Ahem," Jade cleared her throat. Cat and Robbie turned their heads to look at their friends staring at them. "Are we interrupting something?" Jade smirked. So much that Cat was basically ready to die of embarrassment. Realizing their closeness, the two pulled away and stared at anything but each other. Jade, Tori, Beck and Andre all exchanged approving grins.

Back at Ferguson's table, their laughing had caught the attention of the others. Ferguson looked over to see the girls laughing at their 'boyfriends' stuffing their faces.

"Ah to be young again. With that hearty metabolism and young love," he told his wife.

"Yeah, well we may be fifty but you still eat like a pig," she said lovingly. The two chuckled before turning around to finish their meals. Haley had ignored the other table almost instantly, deciding she would much rather spend her time making out with her boyfriend, despite that her parents were sitting at the same table… right next to them. As for Tara and Danny- they were burning with fury, but for different reasons. Tara was angry that they had unknowingly stolen a minute of spotlight time with Ferguson while Danny… let's just say he didn't like when Cat and Robbie were sitting so close to each other.

* * *

**A/N: Real life connection: The way I described how the boys ate is like how three of my best guy friends eat. It's disgusting. lol**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: To a very dear friend of mine here- Today may not be a pleasant day because of some rather unfortunate events, but don't lose your reason to smile. Everyday may not be good, but there's always something good in every day.**

* * *

The rock climbing gym, to say the least, was not either one of their fortes. Cat, Jade and Tori barely made it up, while Robbie, Beck and Andre raced to the top, only toppling over one another after losing balance on their feet. No one made it to the top, but they all laughed harder than they did at brunch. There was a point where Robbie was teaching Cat how to climb the wall. Surprisingly this was the only physical activity he actually sort of knew because he had a tree house with his brother when he was younger and Robbie told Cat that they never made a rope or a ladder because they wanted it to be a task to climb up to the deck.

"Why? What if you wanted to get up there fast?" she asked him.

He simply shrugged and said "It's a guy thing."

Watching this interaction from the corner of his eye was Danny. Suffice to say that he was growing uncomfortable at the fact that Cat was having a good time instead of a miserable time, like he had planned, he was also growing irritated that she was always with Robbie.

The nature walk didn't please him even more because since the trail was full of hills and uneven dirt paths, Cat and Robbie decided to hold hands the entire time. Tara was being a diva, not liking nature or bugs, and holding him behind because she was walking incredibly slow, afraid that she'd slip and fall. This just made it harder for Danny to keep an eye on Cat, not that he was watching her or anything.

"Hey Tor," Jade said walking up to her and Andre. Andre figured the two would gossip so he let go of Tori's hand and caught up to Beck while they explored the nature walk ahead of almost everyone.

"What's up?" she asked.

"You see that?" she pointed her eyes towards the 'couple'.

Tori went wide eyed when she saw they were holding hands.

"Aww! You were right! They DO have a thing for each other," she exclaimed.

"Duh. I'm always right. God if only they would stop being in denial and see that they aren't pretending anymore."

Then Tori remembered something. "Oh yeah... Didn't they say that they would hold hands and hug and stuff in front of everyone to look believable?"

"Yeah, so?" Jade asked.

"What if this is just an act? You know. I know they're holding hands and it's adorable. But it might just be their deal."

"Look, deal or no deal, you can see it in their faces. He's smiling at her like a complete idiot and she's smiling at him like she's in la la land. It doesn't get any more clearer than that. And I know how ironic that sounded."

"Maybe we shouldn't assume still," Tori was giving Cat some slack.

Just as Tori said that, they heard a tiny squeal coming from Cat following by a fit of giggles. They turned towards her direction and saw that Robbie had picked her up and was giving her a piggy back ride.

"Or maybe… you're right," Tori gaped.

"She totally wants him," Jade smirked.

Beck and Andre ran back to their girls and decided what Robbie was doing looked fun so they hoisted their girls up and ran to Robbie, racing each other while giving the girls piggy back rides. Laughs and shouts were echoing throughout the trail and some other employees were talking amongst each other.

"Aw look at them."

"They're having so much fun."

"God they all make cute couples."

Tara couldn't stand it. _She_ wanted the spotlight and she wasn't about to let Cat take it away again.

"Daniel. I want a piggy back ride too."

"What? Babe you can walk perfectly fine by yourself," he complained. HE wasn't tired or weak. He was simply annoyed by everything as well.

"Come on, Daniel. We cannot let that gank and her friends have all the fun."

"You're right. Hop on."

Tara struggled to hop on her boyfriend's back and when she did, it only resulted into them falling to the ground.

"Ew now I'm all dirty. Daniel, help me up!"

He silently rolled his eyes and groaned while helping Tara up. It was safe to say that their plan to ruin Cat's weekend was NOT working out.

* * *

"What do you think of this one?"

Jade stepped out of the walk-in closet in a thigh high, one sleeve little black dress.

"Holy Chizz! That's hot!"

"Really? You think so?"

"Think so? Honey, Beck's jaw will fall to the floor once he sees you in that dress!" Tori exclaimed. "Then again, it wouldn't matter what you wore. Beck would drag you back up to your room in minutes and the dress would come off," she winked.

"Tori!" Jade was surprised.

"Like you don't already know that'll happen!"

"You are crazy," Jade rolled her eyes.

"Crazy in love!" Tori said while spinning in a silver halter dress that went down to her knees.

"You're the only one in love here, Tori," Jade reminded her. "I just met Beck and Cat won't come clean about her feelings."

"Feelings that don't exist!" Cat yelled from the bathroom.

"Well at least I admit I like the guy," Jade reasoned with Tori. "Cat here is in denial."

"No I'm not," she stuck her head at the door while trying to put her earrings ob.

"Says the girl who can't stop drooling over her 'not boyfriend'," Jade smirked.

"Shut up," Cat said as she tiptoed into the room, hurriedly sitting at the edge of the bed trying to put her shoes on.

"Whoa baby!"

"Me-ow! Cat you look hot!"

Cat was donning a royal blue cocktail dress that hugged her in all the right places with sequin lines accentuating those curves.

"Oh stop it. It's not like you guys haven't seen me in a dress before." When cat finished putting her shoes on, four-inch black peep toes, she stood in front of the mirror. The girls gaped at Cat.

"Cat, those heels! They are _so_ perfect for your outfit!" Tori gushed.

"Yeah, thank God you decided to wear heels. I swear if you wore flats again to another party I would have slapped you," Jade approved of her friend's outfit.

"Well the last party we had was almost a year ago. I was dating Danny then and he and I would be the same height every time I wore heels. He didn't like that. Some ego thing for guys."

"Well let's be thankful Robbie's tremendously taller than you because flats would have ruined the sex appeal," Tori said.

"Sex appeal? What sex appeal?" Cat was confused.

"Oh please. As if you didn't think you'd catch a guy's attention wearing that," Jade said. "Either you're wanting to show Danny what he missed out on or you're playing it up with Robbie. Either way, it'll both happen tonight when you show them what you're wearing tonight."

"I am not trying to impress or flaunt anything to anyone. I just wanted to wear this outfit tonight," Cat argued.

"Whatever you say, Cat," Tori and Jade smirked.

Cat rolled her eyes. "Are you ladies ready yet? We should head down soon."

"Anxious to see someone?" Tori smugly asked.

"Anxious to do someone?" Cat retorted.

"I think we all are," Jade countered. She and Tori high fived and started for the door. Cat rubbed her temples and decided to avoid anymore defensive arguing. Frankly the two girls wouldn't stop until she would admit something. Unfortunately for them, Cat had nothing to admit. But maybe, just maybe at the end of the night, in the back of her mind she hoped something would happen.

As they entered the ballroom, one by one, the ladies found their gentlemen. Tori walked in first. Andre's face immediately glowed seeing his loving girlfriend. He walked over to her and offered an arm. They two merrily walked off to a table and chatted amongst themselves. One look at Jade wasn't enough. Beck did a double take when he saw his lady enter in her little black dress. Tori was right; his jaw dropped to the floor, practically drooling over the goddess of the woman in front of him.

"Oh my God, Jade," Beck said taking her hands in his.

"Like what you see, stud?" she smirked.

"You're so hot I could do you right now," he smiled.

"Maybe later… if you're lucky," she winked and walked off to the refreshment table. Beck followed close behind, practically glued to her.

Cat was the last to have her date approach her. Mainly because Robbie was merely chatting it up with Beck and Andre seconds before their dates arrived. One look at Cat and he froze. He forgot how to breathe, how to speak, and how to react. She ended up walking up to him.

"Hey," she said timidly. Her soft voice somehow brought him back to reality.

"H-hey," he squeaked. Clearing his voice, he tried again. "H-hey. Hey. Hey," He tried sounding manly.

"Are you ok? Do you need some water?" she giggled.

"No, I'm fine," he said. "Just…" he was speechless.

"Robbie? Hello?" Cat waved a hand in front of her.

"I'm sorry," he snapped back to the present again. "It's just… Wow, Cat. You look… amazing."

This made her blush, making him go even more crazy.

"You're not so bad yourself," she responded.

If he died at that very second, he would have been a happy man.

From the refreshment table, Tori and Andre had joined Jade and Beck.

"Hey Jade. You see that?" she gestured towards Cat and Robbie.

"Oh yeah," Jade smirked.

"Who you guys talking about" Andre asked after grabbing a glass of champagne for he and Tori.

"Damn! Is that Cat?!" Beck asked. "She looks…"

Jade looked at him, awaiting his answer.

"Ok… You look hotter," he scoffed.

"It's ok, Beck. We need her to be hot tonight," she told him. "But, you're mine you got that?" she feigned jealousy.

"Oh yeah," he said before kissing her.

"Wait, why does Cat need to look hot? She's already pretty?" Andre asked his girlfriend.

"We all know she's pretty. But it's so obvious she likes Robbie and Danny is trying to ruin her weekend. So we want her to make Danny jealous and get Robbie attracted to her," she explained to him.

"Well I'm sure Danny would get jealous because Cat does look good. But Robbie isn't a problem," he surely stated.

"What do you mean Robbie's not a problem? Did he talk to you? Does he like-"

Before Tori could ask anymore, Andre knew he said too much. So he grabbed his girlfriend and kissed her. She immediately forgot about Cat and Robbie and kissed back, enjoying her boyfriend's affection.

"Oh Em Gee, Haley. Do you see what Cat is wearing? Can she be any more forward?" Tara scoffed.

Haley, Danny and Haley's boyfriend all looked at Cat and went wide-eyed.

"Wow that dress looks fabulous!" Haley commented.

Tara glared at her.

"But, yes. Fabulous dress. Horrible person," she reassured Tara she was on her side. Tara rolled her eyes, crossed her arms and tapped her feet. Clearly Cat made quite an impression at this party and Tara was getting furious.

"Damn, that's your ex?" Haley's boyfriend whispered to Danny.

"I think so," he was unconvinced that the gorgeous redhead across the room really was Cat Valentine.

"Dude. You traded down," Haley's boyfriend said before attending to his girlfriend.

"I know," Danny gritted his teeth. He was angry because he was right. And because his plan to make Cat's life a living hell had backfired on him. And anyone who looked closely could see a green eyed monster in him.

Robbie eventually loosened up, trying not to make things awkward. Though he didn't stop giving compliments to Cat. He meant everything he was saying, and she blushed almost every time. They mostly sat away from everyone, talking it up, laughing, enjoying one another's presence. From time to time, Jade and Tori would walk by, asking them to dance, but the two seemed very comfortable just talking and promised to dance later. Mr. Ferguson dropped by once asking them how their weekend was going and they paid compliments to his generous retreat location and all its amenities. Mr. Ferguson couldn't help smiling while he was talking to them, and they grew a bit shy afterwards. Once he left, they continued their conversation.

"You remember that little cliff we passed by at the beginning of the nature walk?" Cat asked Robbie.

"Yeah, didn't the view remind you of runyon canyon?" he told her.

"I was just going to say that!" she excitedly replied.

"Really?!" he grew excited. "You know which area I'm talking about? Near the north entrance?"

"By the stream, near the double gates," Cat confirmed.

"Yes! That's the spot!"

"Yeah! I mean that cliff wasn't extremely high, but it was high enough to see a good amount of the city. It was…"

"Peaceful," she finished for him.

"Definitely. You know you guys seem to work really well as a company. I mean, Sunset has a great roster of talents, and after being around the other employees, I can see why your label's awesome," he complimented her.

"Well most of us get along," she said. They both knew who she was talking about and chuckled about it.

"And Cat," Robbie started.

"Yeah?" she asked.

"I know that Jade said you guys are trying not to get Tara's team on Rolling Stones. But I admire that you're not playing Tara's game with her. You're doing things on your own and you'll get your chance. I know it."

"Robbie," Cat blushed for the umpteenth time.

"And I know I may seem to be a part of your 'plan' but I don't see why any guy would not want to date you. You're beautiful."

"Right, plan…" Cat had almost forgotten that the reason for Robbie being there was for her plan to make sure Tara never found out about her lie. "Listen, if I haven't said it enough… Thank you for joining me this weekend. It really means a lot. More than just that lie. I really didn't feel alone. I had fun. And I made a new friend," she smiled. It was Robbie's turn to grow shy and go red.

"Well I'm really glad I came too. I made new friends, got to stay at a beautiful resort, and…" he said before standing up. "I have the most beautiful date to this party. He held his hand out to her. "Shall we?"

"We shall," she giggled then accepted his hand. He guided her to the dance floor and luckily for Robbie, it was a slow song. He wasn't much of a dancer and a slow song where two people basically swayed from side to side seemed easy enough for him. Or so he thought.

"Ow," Cat squealed.

"Sorry. Damn, I have two left feet. Does it hurt? Do you want to sit down?" he grew worried.

"No, no I'm fine," she assured him. "Just… relax, Robbie. You're fine," she encouraged.

He nodded and took a deep breath. Again he took her hand and they slow danced to the current ballad. She placed both hands on his shoulder; just her touch made him relax. When he didn't need to look at his feet anymore, rather his date, he grew comfortable. Cat did as well since she had slid her hands around his neck, resting them at the nape. Chills sent down his spine at the contact of her hands to his skin. He looked at her and she smiled. Nonverbally asking, he found permission in her eyes to wrap his hands further around her back, bringing them closer. They were close enough that he bent his head down to rest his forehead on hers.

"You relaxed now?" she asked closing her eyes, simply breathing in Robbie and letting him take over.

"Very," he said, taking in her beauty.

She noticed the softness in his voice and decided to flutter her eyes open to see if he was doing alright. When she did, they met eye to eye, only inches apart. Cat could have sworn he was leaning in and as she was about to, the song immediately changed to an upbeat tempo, startling the them both. They jumped back about a foot, and held their breaths. When they realized the song changed, they both laughed, easing the tension they had. Sexual tension, in Jade's words. Robbie decided to keep the evening light so he asked for her hand and they danced to the upbeat music. Four songs later they were laughing and hugging, dancing and smiling, simply enjoying one another's clumsiness and lack of dance skills (on Robbie's end). Robbie offered for them to take a break after they attempted to dance a salsa with everyone. They decided it was a bit stuff in the ballroom, so he motioned for them to get some air out in the garden.

Cat decided to take her heels off while they walked along the pavement.

"When was the last time you felt so at peace with yourself?" he casually asked breaking the ice.

"Hm… I would say every time Jade and I did walks or hikes. Runyon, Hollywood, Bronson, Griffith- we did those every weekend, and it truly relaxed me for that short time."

"Why'd you stop?"

"Work. Boyfriends. Gigs. Tours. We just lost time to do anything, let alone take a break."

"But were you happy?"

"For the most part," she said. He guessed which 'part' of that list was the unhappy factor. "What about you?" she asked.

"After my girlfriend and I broke up, it was hard for me to find he best music at work. I remember probably a month or so after in one episode, there was a scene that sort of parallel my rocky relationship with her. I didn't know what came over me, but I thought of the perfect soundtrack for that one particular episode, and when I made the final edits, I felt free. Like I finally let go of her and any burden revolving around our relationship."

"That must be nice. Knowing you're completely over your ex."

"So, you're not completely over Danny?"

"Not like that. I'm over him feelings-wise. He broke my heart and I don't think I could handle that again. But a part of me will be scared that I didn't give him enough. Like that what if thing. What if I was a better girlfriend? Would he not have cheated on me? Would I be the same person I am right now? But I don't want to be a different person because I like who I am. It's just that stupid what if…"

"No, I here you. I had that in the beginning of our break up. But trust me, it'll go away. Once the right person comes along."

"Has the right girl come along for you?"

"I don't know. But I do know that my what if is fading. So maybe I'm close to finding her."

"I'm sure you will," she told him.

By this time, they had found a bench to sit and continue their conversation.

"If Danny and you still have something, then maybe time will tell. But if not, then I know too that your what if will go away and you'll find a better guy than him. So don't think you're pathetic or anything for letting this guy get to your head still. He tore you up, and it takes time to heal."

"Damn, Robbie. You're like one of the few people who actually get me."

"Well, I was in a long term relationship too. I guess I can empathize."

"It's her loss, you know," Cat smiled.

"His loss too," he matched her expression.

There it was, that lingering moment again. Neither person knew if they should lean in or not.

But either way, that moment had ended too soon when Robbie's phone rang.

"It's my boss. Um…"

"Take it. I'll probably head back to the party for a second. I'll see you upstairs?"

"Sure thing. See ya," he said before walking off.

She sat in bliss for a moment, taking in such an almost perfect day. She had been so content ever since she woke up. All the way to their almost kiss moments tonight. What could possibly make it any better?

"Cat?"

She turned around, hoping for one person, but ended up being faced to face with another.

_Scratch that, what could possibly go wrong? _She thought to herself.

"Danny."

* * *

**A/N: The only thing I added for real was runyon canyon. Think about the highest hill you've ever been on (not a mountain) and it overlooks the area. Now add life, lights, nature, a setting/rising sun and a white 9-letter sign to go with the view. Living in LA does have it's perks. It's a beautiful place.**

**I was going to update later in the day, but I just got home from an event in Lalaland. I passed by Nick on Sunset on my drive back, and it was just screaming me to update the minute I got home haha. Anyway, this story is almost over. Just a few more chapters.**

**I'm too tired to respond to some reviews, but next chapter I want to answer a few.**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Before I run out of time tonight, here's the next chapter!**

**Flamekat - I like that quote you sent, like it REALLY fits for this story lol where'd you find it? Oh and ;) ;) ;) Bacon**

**To those of you who are reading my other fic, I'm just wow blown away. Thanks for giving my other stuff a chance. But you know I'll always write for Cabbie :) Speaking of which, after this story, my next Victorious fic will be a story that has heavy Cikowitz, with a dash of Cori, Cade and Cabbie. But I don't feel like posting it as a Cat and Sikowitz story so it's just going to be Cat. It's short, so I didn't mind that. The story's called _Elevated_. I decided to keep its original name because back then I thought it was cool and I still do lol. It's my writing style from when I was 17. It took me 4 hours to fix my horrible writing since then... We'll see if you guys like it...**

**Anyway, enjoy!**

* * *

"Why are you out here all by yourself?"

"I was with Robbie, but he's taking a call. Why do you care?"

Danny took a seat beside her. She was rather poignant that he sat where Robbie did minutes before. But whether or not Danny knew about their mixed feelings, he was there for one reason and one reason only.

"Listen, Cat. We need to talk," Danny started.

"I don't think there's anything to talk about, Danny. And I think you should go."

"I'm not going anywhere," he replied.

"Then I'll go," she said. As she got up, he grabbed her wrist.

"Come on, Cat. Just a few minutes. Please?" he begged.

No matter how much she despised him, she always gave people a chance to speak. Blame it on her kind nature. Reluctantly, she sat back down, but at a reasonable distance from him.

"You've got two minutes."

"Look, maybe I was wrong. You're not the same girl you were when we first met, and certainly not the same girl I left."

"You didn't leave me, you cheated on me. There's a difference."

"And I'm really sorry, Cat. I regret it," he sighed.

"Every day of your life or just now?" she crossed her arms.

"What difference does that make? Regret is regret."

"If you regret it from the start then that's one thing. But it you regret it only because you see me happy with someone else, that's just wanting something you can't have."

"Cat," Danny took her hands in his. "All that matters is I realized my feelings for you and I still care about you."

Little did Cat know that Robbie had ended his phone call and was walking back to her. He caught only this part of their conversation, but that was enough for Robbie to know not to interrupt. After all, he did tell Cat that if it was meant to be between she and Danny that it'll happen. He didn't want to be in the way. So he walked off, head sulking, not knowing what this feeling inside him was that was suffocating his breathing.

"You have a girlfriend, Danny. And it's Tara of all people! You know she doesn't like me. And then I find out that she was the one you cheated with AND for months before we even broke up! You know what a slap in the face that was to me and all my friends?" Cat stood in fury, releasing her hands from his grip.

"Ok, I get it. I messed up. Tara wasn't who I thought she was. She's hot, but truth be told I was attracted to her because she was friends with Haley."

"Don't tell me you've hooked up with Haley too," Cat warned.

"No. I didn't, chill," he raised his arms as a barrier. "Haley's dad is just a powerful man, and I wanted to get on Ferguson's good side."

"Why? You don't even sing."

"Yeah, but if he likes me I can just become a socialite."

"So you're telling me you're only into Tara for her looks and her father?"

"Well Tara's a very generous girl," he smugly grinned.

"Ew, Danny. You don't need to tell me about your intimacy with her."

"So you're saying Robbie's not into you for your body? The dude likes your gymnast body. Which by the way thanks for never telling me," he snarled.

"Our physical relationship is our own business. But Robbie is the sweetest guy I've ever met. At least for me, I truly like him for his kindness and sincerity." Cat meant everything she said about Robbie. This was the first time she admitted somewhat of a higher respect to Robbie. Though she was talking to Danny, she was really telling herself what she thought about him.

"Whatever, Cat, you've only dated him for a month. I've known you for three years. I know you more. Come on, babe. Give me another chance."

"Why should I give you another chance? You broke my heart, Danny."

"So you're saying that you are 100% over me? You have no doubts about us anymore," he took a step forward. They may have been broken up, but that devious guy knew all of Cat's weaknesses.

When Cat didn't answer, Danny knew he had a chance. Cat was vulnerable so this was the perfect opportunity to jump back in.

"Babe… Do you still love me?" he grabbed her hands again, this time gently. She looked down at them before reverting her gaze back to him.

"I-"

"Listen, think about it ok? Spend the rest of your weekend with the guy, but after this fairytale vacation of yours is over, my offer still stands." With that, Danny gave her hand a squeeze and walked off.

"What just happened?" Cat said in pure uncertainty.

Immediately she went back to the party to grab her things and call it a night. She absentmindedly forgot about Robbie and his whereabouts, too confused and torn about Danny's confrontation. Storming inside, Tori immediately noticed Cat's flustered appearance and nudged Jade to go up to her.

"Hey Cat, what's up?" Tori said.

"Are you ok? Jade added.

"No. I'm not," Cat fought back any emotions.

"Cat, seriously, what's wrong? Did Robbie do something to you?!" Jade jumped to conclusions.

"No, Jade. Calm down. He didn't. At least I think he didn't. Not in that way…"

"Cat, you're not making any sense," Tori muttered.

"Look, I'm fine. I'm just going to head back up to my room."

"We're coming with you," Jade decided.

"Yeah we are. I'll tell Beck and Andre we're leaving."

"No, I don't want to end your night so shortly. It's fine. I'm fine," Cat lied.

"Fine, we'll let the guys stay. Beck and Robbie can stay here so long as Andre's with them. But you can't let us NOT go up with you. We know something's up and we don't want you to mope about it by yourself. We're going," Jade demanded. Cat and Tori knew they could never argue with her, so Cat sighed and walked up while Tori informed the boys.

"Babe, we're heading up early with Cat. Something's up with her so we're going to talk," Tori informed Andre.

"Alright, we'll go find Robbie and head up too."

"No, that's what Cat didn't want to happen. Just stay here for a while and then head up. Maybe you can find something out from Robbie like what happened."

"Ok, we'll find him. Give Cat a big hug for me, Tor," Andre said before saying goodbye to his girlfriend.

After Tori walked off, Beck came up to Andre.

"Hey man, where's your lady going? And have you seen Jade?"

"Cat's upset so they're going to talk to her. Tori wants us to see if Robbie's ok because she didn't look upset until she came back from getting some air outside with Robbie."

"Well there's Robbie," Beck pointed at him entering through the doors. "Let's go see what's up."

They walked up to the curly haired guy and patted his shoulders.

"What's up, man. Where did you go off to?" Beck smirked.

"Just took a walk with Cat before taking a phone call."

"Well, why aren't you with her now?"

"I was going back to her, but she was otherwise occupied. I thought she'd go back inside by now."

"She's upstairs with the girls. She said something about being tired," Andre lied.

"Oh," was all Robbie replied.

"What's going on, Robbie? Everything ok?" Andre looked concerned. Beck had noticed as well and now the two guys were wondering what happened.

"I think so," he said. "Well, yeah it should be."

"What do you mean should?" Beck questioned.

Robbie furrowed his eyebrows and pushed his glasses up. He only did this when he was frustrated.

"Up for a beer?" Beck asked Robbie and Andre. He figured it could calm Robbie's nerves and the bar would be less noisy.

"Please," Robbie answered.

"Alright, let's go," Andre said.

After getting settled at the lounge across the lobby, Andre felt it was safe enough to ask again.

"So, what happened between you and Cat? One minute you guys are having a good time on the dance floor and the next minute you come back looking like you just ate spoiled sushi."

"Well, it's gotten a bit complicated," Robbie admitted.

"What do you mean by complicated?" Beck asked again.

"Cat's a great girl, don't get me wrong. And I know she's sincere. That's why I agreed to help her out. This weekend has been nice, and I'm glad I could help her out with Tara… and Danny."

"Yeah Danny was a surprise to all of us," Andre added.

"And Cat did talk to me about Danny. Everything. Even the part that she admits even though she's over him and is trying to move on, there's always going to be a part of her that wonders if he never cheated that they would still be together."

"Okay?" Andre and Beck were waiting, knowing Robbie had more to say.

"So I told her that Danny might never change and you can't forget he's a cheater, but if it's meant to be then it's meant to be. If not, then I'm sure there's a better guy out there for her."

"Danny is NOT right for Cat," Andre stated. He knew Cat more than Beck and Robbie so the other guys knew Andre meant it in all honesty.

"It doesn't matter what we think, Andre. It's all up to Cat. I took a phone call and stepped away from Cat for a few minutes only to return to see her talking to Danny."

"What?" Beck almost did a spit take on his beer.

"Yeah. He showed up once I left apparently."

"What did she say?" Andre was growing anxious.

"I didn't interrupt them. I just left to take a walk. But when I was leaving, I did catch Danny telling her he still had feelings for her."

"That scumbag," Andre gritted his teeth.

"Robbie, you should have done something!" Beck slammed his hand on the counter.

"Like what? They were talking. What if it does work out with them?"

"Over my dead body," Andre grunted. "He is _wrong_ for Cat."

"Andre, you're not going to suddenly confess that you love Cat or something?" Robbie, of all people, found a way to bring humor into this.

"No, but I know you should have," he retorted.

"What?" Robbie was trying not to blush.

"It's so obvious. I mean, you wouldn't be so upset about this Danny thing if you didn't care," Beck added.

"Of course I care. I'm a friend."

"Friends becoming lovers. It's a classic love story," Andre said. Beck gave him a weird look. "What?" Tori's a romantic sap, I hear this chizz all the time," Andre defended.

"Well there's no love story here because if you two geniuses remember, Cat and I are only _pretending_ to be a couple."

Andre and Beck exchanged glances. It was all coming together.

"Dude, I think somewhere along the lines of pretending, it became real," Andre explained.

"I'm afraid you're right, Andre," Robbie said without denying.

"Then what are you doing talking to us?! Go talk to her! Kiss her! Wreck the sheets!" Beck cried out.

"Beck, did you not just listen to my dilemma? This is just pretend for her and Danny still likes her. I can't just complicate things."

"As if it isn't already complicated for her?" Beck pointed.

"Still, I respect her too much to do something so hasty."

"Robbie, if you want to be happy in life you need to just put yourself out there. Just go for it. What do you have to lose? If I were you I'd take Cat, kiss her and be done with it. That's what I did with Jade. I spent forever admiring her every time she stepped into JetBrew. Then when she asked me on a date, I didn't waste my time. Once I sat down I kissed her. She slapped me, but she kissed back. And look where I am now," he grinned and fist pumped Andre.

"Don't you think that's being too forward?"

"I'm going to have to agree with Beck on this one. You'll never know if you're mixed feelings for Cat are real or if she likes you if you don't do anything about it. Talk to her, kiss her. Do whatever you want. Just don't keep this to yourself. Listen, she's upstairs talking to the girls about something. It's probably about this too. Maybe you can help her out by talking to her tonight."

Robbie looked between Beck and Andre for a minute.

"Alright. Wish me luck."

* * *

"And he just left?"

"Mhm."

"After saying all of that to you?"

"Yup."

"Oh my Chizz."

Cat had finished explaining her encounter with Danny earlier that evening to the girls. Now they understood why she was a bit shaken up.

"Who gave him the right to even talk to you like that and say those things?" Jade was disgusted.

"Wait, you're not like thinking about taking him back, are you?" Tori questioned.

"No… I don't know…"

"What do you mean you don't know?!" Jade glared at her.

"No, I'm not getting back with Danny. Ever. I realized that tonight when I was talking to Robbie."

"You were talking to Robbie?" they asked at the same time.

"Yeah. We went outside to get some air, remember?" Cat explained.

"Oh my God!" Tori cried to Jade as if they forgot the most important thing in the world. Well in this case, Robbie. "What did Robbie say about this?" Tori asked.

"He never came back after he took his phone call. After Danny left I kind of forgot because I was shaken. But before Danny ruined my night, I seriously felt so… at _peace_ with myself," she admitted. Tori and Jade disregarded that last part, not really understanding because they were more anxious about the drama.

"What do you think Robbie's going to say when he finds out about this?" Jade asked.

"Nothing because he isn't Cat's real boyfriend, Jade."  
"Boyfriend or not, it's so obvious they're into each other, Tor."

"You guys. I'm still here," Cat spoke up.

"Right. So what are you going to do? Are you going to tell Robbie?" Jade asked.

"But does Robbie really need to know?" Tori asked.

"I… don't know," she heavily sighed.

"Cat, look at me," Jade instructed her. She reluctantly looked up. "No games, no lies, no pretending… Do you have feelings for Robbie?"

Slowly but surely, Cat softly nodded.

"Then why don't you tell him?!" Tori and Jade both exclaimed.

"Because…" she groaned, "before Danny came, Robbie was telling me all these frank things about mine and Danny's relationship and that one day I'll find a guy good enough for me. He was basically pushing me to the friend zone."

"Ohhhhh," they both responded.

The girls were too into the conversation that they hadn't heard the door click.

"But what does that have to do with Robbie or Danny or any other guy?" Tori asked.

"I don't know, Maybe I'm just unlucky with love. I'm not affectionate enough for Danny, I'm not attractive enough for Robbie, and I need a fake boyfriend to pretend to be happy. No wonder why Danny left me. No wonder why no matter how much I wanted to make our relationship work, I just couldn't make him happy. And then by some miracle, this happened…"

The door clicked again going unnoticed.

"Danny confronting you?" Jade asked.

"No, Robbie coming into my life."

"Isn't that a good thing?" Tori wondered.

"I don't know. Do I really like Robbie or am I just happy that I'm receiving affection from a man? Why am I making Danny jealous by dating Robbie? Do I still like Danny or not? Do I even have sure feelings for Robbie?" Cat was pacing back and forth.

"Wow that's a lot of questions," Jade rubbed her temples.

"Well there's only one way to find out any of this. Confront Robbie. See what he thinks. I hate to be the crabby Cathy but you also need to know if Robbie feels the same way because for all we know he still thinks this is pretend," Tori said.

"Tori's right. I know we've been joking this whole time, but now that this is real, you need to find out your feelings, and then find out Robbie's. The sooner you do, the sooner you can stop worrying, Cat."

* * *

"So you didn't talk to her yet?"

"No. She was still talking to the girls. I came in but I guess they didn't hear the door."

Robbie called Andre after walking all the way down to the lobby to get some air.

"Did you ever show yourself?"

"No, Andre. I kind of eavesdropped and heard my name and Danny's name."

"What exactly was said?"

"Some thing about how she's never going to be good enough fo

"And what about you?"

"That she doesn't feel like a good pretend girlfriend for me."

"Wait, then what's the problem? Does she want Danny again or something?"

"I don't know."

"Robbie. She never said she wanted him. And she never said she didn't like you. And I sure as hell know you like her because you wouldn't be talking to me right now if you didn't feel anything."

"I'm not jealous."

"I didn't say you were. But I know you want Cat. So go upstairs and sort this out before you regret it in the morning. Who knows, maybe Danny will steal her away by then."

"You think she would take him back?"

"At this rate, possibly. As much as I hate him, it's like he has a spell on her. Take mine and Beck's advice and go for it, man. And I think you're good to go because I just heard Tori come in."

"Alright. Later, Andre."

*click*

Robbie rode the elevator back up to their hotel room. _It's now or never, Robbie,_ he told himself. _Just do it._

Her hesitantly turned the knob and stepped inside. Closing it, he realized it was really quiet. _Dammit, she might be sleeping_, he thought. Walking further inside to the bed, he found her sitting near the window, staring outside.

"Cat?" he muttered.

She whipped her head around and they met eye to eye. For what felt like hours but was really a few seconds, they stared at each other. Robbie couldn't register the expression she was giving off. He couldn't read her. One reason was because he's never seen her this way, and another, he was clouded in the head as well. What happened next was a real blur. But all he knew was he took the first step.

He vehemently made his way to her, grabbed her and crashed their lips together in a hungrily yet passionate approach. Barely pulling away for a half a second to realize what he'd done or how she'd react, Cat wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him down.

To the bed.

Under the covers.

And, as Beck would describe, she had her way with him.


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Ugh I just got back from the airport. I was hoping to post before midnight but oh well. I will update again later today though so don't worry! I want to finish the story today. Anyway, don't hate me with this chapter but enjoy!**

* * *

"So did you and Robbie talk things out?" Tori asked Cat the next morning at breakfast.

"Sort of," Cat said. "We still have a lot to talk about, that's for sure."

"Hey guys," Jade walked up to the two.

"Good morning Jade, sleep well?" Tori winked.

"I sure did," Jade smugly grinned.

The three girls giggled so hard they didn't notice one of their enemies walking towards them.

"Morning ladies," Danny walked past the girls and winked at Cat.

"Ugh," Tori rolled her eyes.

"Where's Robbie?" Jade wondered.

"When I left he was still asleep. He should be down in a minute though because he doesn't sleep in too much."

As if on cue, Robbie strolled inside the breakfast hall. He spotted Cat and smiled at her before finding Andre and Beck to grab some breakfast. Cat softly blushed, but it was visible enough for her two friends to notice.

"Cat…" Jade smirked.

"What?" she asked.

"Don't 'what' us. What was that?" Tori played.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Cat tried to hide.

"Tori, let me handle this," Jade said. "We can either do this the easy way, or the hard way," Jade sharpened her gaze at the redhead.

"Ok fine!" Cat gave in. "I slept with Robbie," she barely whispered.

"YOU WHAT?!" Tori and Jade screamed.

"Shhh God can you be any louder?!" Cat whisper-yelled.

"Ok, ok. What does this mean? Are you two like together or something?" Jade questioned.

"Oh, so that's what you meant about sorting things out. I get you now, girl," Tori winked and nudged Cat's shoulder.

"I don't know if we are or not," she admitted. "It just happened. We didn't talk about anything. Robbie came back from the party. We looked at each other and the next thing you know I woke up naked right next to him. I really didn't know how to interpret this so I hurried up and got here as fast as I could."

"Oh Cat, you need to talk to the poor guy," Tori insisted. "He's probably just as confused."

"Yeah, doesn't this mean you both feel the same way?" Jade pointed.

"I don't know, maybe? Or maybe it was an in the moment kind of thing because I mean we were dressed up and like you said, we have tension."

"So what you're saying is this was just a hormonal thing? That it meant nothing?" Tori gathered.

"Yeah, what was it for you?" Jade added.

"Sup, Rob. Did you talk to Cat last night?" Andre said once he sat at the table.

"Not really. I hope to talk to her today before we leave."

"I'm sure you will. We only have breakfast, the softball game and then a dinner."

"Softball game?" Beck weighed in.

"Yeah, split up in teams and play a friendly game of softball. Ferguson's a huge baseball fan and his wife will play the game so long as it's softball."

"I am a pro at baseball. Let's all be on the same team," Beck suggested.

"Like that wasn't already a given," Robbie chuckled.

When Jade and Tori sat at the table, Robbie noticed Cat was still getting some food so he walked up to her. Grabbing a plate, he stood at the counter to pick out some breakfast as well.

"Good morning," he warily said.

"Hey," she returned in the same manner.

"So…" he awkwardly stated.

"So… uh, I know things got kind of…"

"Carried away…"

"Right. Yeah. Last night…" she smiled.

"Last night," he repeated, smiling shyly himself.

"Um, it was great, don't get me wrong," she assured him.

"Same here. I was right about that gymnastics thing, though," he said causing her to blush madly.

"Cat are you ok?" Trina said, walking up to the two at the refreshments table.

"Yeah, Robbie just said something funny," she covered up. He stifled a laugh.

Trina, oblivious as she was, believed it and giggled before walking away.

"Funny?" he eyed her.

"What was I supposed to say?" she defended.

"It's ok. I mean I did hear you laugh last night. Well, you made a lot of little noises," he couldn't help it. He felt amazing and he loved to see her flustered.

"Says the guy who screamed louder than me," she countered. It was his turn to blush.

"Man is it hot in here?" he said as another employee passed by.

"Maybe we should talk about this later," she suggested.

"Agreed," he said. "She-Devil, twelve o'clock" he immediately whispered/

"Cat, Robbie." Tara said. She grabbed Danny and fondled all over him. For once, Cat didn't bother. She couldn't help but smile.

"Why are you guys so red?" Danny asked.

"It's just hot today," Robbie said. Cat giggled.

"Ugh, whatever. Come on, babe. Let's get ready for softball." Before Tara pulled Danny away, she grabbed him and kissed him sloppily. They pulled away and she smirked at Cat. Cat stifled a laugh.

After they walked away, Robbie and Cat broke into a fit of laughter.

"That has got to be the most awkward kiss I've ever witnessed," Robbie said.

"Tell me about it," she agreed. "Hey listen… I got to tell you something."

"Ok, shoot."

"Danny talked to me last night and he's been bothering me this morning. I know there are things we still need to talk about, but can we put last night aside from now until we get to our hotel room and try to get Danny off my back?"

"Sure," Robbie replied offering his hand for her to take. They walked hand-in-hand to their table, purposely passing Tara and Danny, and enjoyed a lovely breakfast with their friends.

After breakfast, Mr. Ferguson announced the softball teams. It went in everyone's favor having their little group go against Tara and Haley's group. Beck may have been athletic, and so were Andre and somewhat Robbie, but Danny was an athlete, so he was shining in the baseball field. Although Danny was being seriously competitive, all Cat and her friends cared for was having fun. This certainly made him and Tara ticked.

"Alright," Beck said in the dugout. "We've got Robbie on third base and we're down by two. As much fun as it is to watch Danny be competitive, let's see if we can beat him."

"Yeah, I'd love to see the look on his face if we beat him." Jade devilishly grinned.

"Alright, Cat you're up. You think you can get a hit for Robbie to make a run?" Andre asked.

"I think so," Cat answered.

"Well Danny's the pitcher. Just imagine the ball as his face and smack the chizz out of it!" Tori advised her.

"That was so evil," Jade feigned shock. "I've taught you well, Vega."

"That's not a bad idea, actually," Cat said. "I will certainly keep that in mind."

Cat made her way to the plate. She was a bit nervous because the last two times she was at bat she had struck out. Danny smugly grinned at her, trying to get in her head. She wasn't going to let him do it.

"Alright, Cat. Just focus!" Beck hollered from the dugout.

Danny winked at her and shook his head, trying to psyche her out. He wound the first pitch and tossed it.

Strike.

"It's ok, Kitty-Cat. You still have two more!" Jade encouraged.

Danny pitched again.

Strike.

She heard a chuckled coming from him and from Tara. This really ticked her off. It wasn't about the game anymore, it was about shutting them up.  
"Cat you can do it!" Robbie yelled from third base.

Hearing his voice, she was able to focus. Imagining that the softball was indeed Danny's face, she was ready for his next throw.

Too soon the ball was headed her way. And without a second thought, she swung the bat as hard as she could.

Craaaack.

The ball flew overhead and way far into the field where no outfielder just happened to be standing.

"Whoa," Robbie, Andre, Jade and Tori said.

"Cat. Run!" Beck hollered.

Cat and Robbie realized they were just standing on their bases so they ran. Robbie easily made it to home while Cat was cornering first and second base. Robbie stood to the side of the home plate because he wanted to see how Cat did. Finally, an outfielder has picked up the ball and tried throwing it back to Danny. Cat reached third base at the time and thought it was safe to stop there.

"No, Cat, keep going!" Andre yelled from the dugout.

She was unsure, but everyone was yelling for her to run. Robbie was at the home plate and even he was gesturing her to run as fast as she could. And she did just that.

Just seconds before the ball was thrown back into in filed and back to Danny, Cat made it to home base. Her entire team cheered from the dugout and Robbie, still standing there, cheered for her. She was so overwhelmed that she jumped into an embrace and wrapped her legs around him while he twirled her. In the midst of her spin, Cat caught Danny's look of pure bewilderment.

Her back was turned to him when Robbie stopped twirling and she mouthed her mouth to he ear.

"Is Danny still watching us?" she whispered.

"Yeah," Robbie nodded.

"Good," she smiled.

"Well, we shouldn't waste this audience of ours," Robbie suggested as he met face to face with Cat. "Let's give him a show."

She smiled into the kiss that he planted on her lips right in front of everyone in the company. Hoots and hollers were made with a few wolf whistles here and there. The only people not celebrating the moment… well take a guess.

After the game, Danny's team lost by one point by the way, all employees ate lunch and relaxed with one another at the outdoor café. Jade and Tori were egging Cat, as were Andre and Beck to Robbie, about that homerun surprise.

"We were putting on a show, you guys. Danny was watching. It was a perfect moment," Cat insisted.

"You were putting on a show alright," Jade winked.

"You know what I'm talking about," Cat stuck out her tongue.

"I don't think you guys have to worry about awkwardness after this," Tori said. "It's so obvious last night was supposed to happen."

"We haven't even talked about last night yet, you guys. I'm serious, that was really all just for show. I mean did you see the look on Danny's face?"

"Oh my God, yes! I wish I had a camera!" Jade laughed with Tori.

Meanwhile, Andre and Beck were egging Robbie on their scene.

"You said that you two didn't have time to talk last night. What, Cat got your tongue or something?" Andre interrogated him.

"Oh I bet she did," Beck joked.

"Yeah, she did," Robbie admitted.

The two guys exchanged glances then turned to Robbie with bulging eyes.

"Dude. Spill. Now!" Andre demanded.

"We slept together."

"Oh chizz!"

"That's my man!" Beck raised his hand waiting for a high five.

Robbie chuckled and gave him a weak slap.

"So does that mean you two are like a thing now?" Andre asked.

"I don't know, we haven't talked about it yet. But we only kissed to get Danny's attention. Honest."

"Get his attention or get some morning action?" Beck smirked.

"Shut up, man," Robbie blushed.

"I think she likes you," Andre said.

"Same here. Whether that was planned or not, you two were glowing out there," Beck added.

"But I still don't know about that Danny thing until I talk to her."

"Then talk to her, dude. By the end of the night, you'll get the girl."

* * *

Cat and Jade were mingling with a few coworkers towards the end of lunch since Robbie and Beck decided to grab some beers at the bar and Tori wanted to spend some time with Andre. Cat got up from their table to use the restroom. Moments later, she came out of the lavatory and was welcomed by none other than Danny.

"Hey, Cat."

"Hello," she acknowledged.

"Can we talk?"

"About what? Danny, listen, I'm kind of busy so if you don't mind, I don't have time to wast-"

She was cut off by Danny crashing his lips to hers. She was uncomfortable and didn't respond, pushing him off of her.

"Daniel!" She snarled.

"I'm sorry, Cat. I've been wanting to do that all weekend."

"You've got a girlfriend and I've got Robbie in the other room. What the hell were you thinking?!" she demanded.

"I was thinking that I don't want Tara, I want you. And I get it now. You're trying to get me jealous with Robbie and as fun as your little game was all weekend, I'll give in. Ok you got me. I was jealous. Now stop with these games and get back together with me. I know you don't like Robbie."

"Who gives you the right to tell me who I like and don't like. And rest assured I strongly dislike you."

Robbie just had the perfect timing for these things because he had spotted when Cat pushed Danny away from her after he could have sworn they kissed. He silently hid behind a post, not meaning to eavesdrop, but couldn't find it in him to walk away.

"Cat, you can stop pretending already. I know you well enough not to be this forward and putting out with someone this early in a relationship. What? Did you become more forward in the past year?"

"So what if I sped things up with Robbie? What gives?"  
"Ok fine, I get it. You're even sexier now that you're giving out. But stop playing games and just get back together with me already."

"Danny I am offended with what you're saying. If all you want me back for is my body then I sure as hell don't want to get back together with you."

"So you were thinking about giving us another chance?" he twisted the question.

"I didn't say that."

"But is it true?"

She didn't respond.

"Cat, do you really like Robbie? Or are you creating stronger feelings for him because I'm here?"

Still she didn't respond.

This was too much for Robbie to handle so he took that silent moment as a sign to go back upstairs and get rid of this nonsense anger for a girl he made an agreement with. He had to remember that.

"Listen Danny. You may have been right that Robbie and I are rushing things, but there's something about him that makes me trust him so much. Something I never felt when we were together. What Robbie and I have is special and I can't wait to see where it goes. You cheated on me, Danny, and that will haunt me for a very long time, but I know not to get back with a cheater and I can get over you. In fact, I am over you, completely. I'm going to my boyfriend and you're going to your girlfriend and we're never going to cross paths again. We're over, Daniel. Goodbye."

Cat walked back to the lunch area with so much pride, she broke a smile and for the first time in a long time felt extremely good about herself.

Later that day, Cat decided to find Robbie and finally talk things out with him. Beck said that after lunch he went upstairs, probably for a nap or something since he "didn't really sleep last night" as Beck said with a wink. Obviously Cat understood that Robbie told him about their activities from the night before.

Walking into their hotel room, she was expecting him to be asleep. Instead, he was on the phone with someone. She was about to show herself when she overheard a bit of his conversation.

"I know, man, it's been years since Gabriella. But you know, even after all this I'm still in love with her… I don't think I can ever get over her."

Before she could take any more of this or hold back her emotions, Cat left the room. Robbie continued his phone call.

"Even if she kissed her ex boyfriend?"

"I'm pretty sure he kissed her."

"Regardless, dude. They kissed. Would you still love her if she got back with him?"

"Yeah, I think so."

"I'm sorry, man. I wish I could tell you to do something but you're right. You and Cat had a deal and for all you know, last night was just a part of it. It's not like you two set boundaries on sex."

"I know. It just made it complicating. But at least I figured out a few things."

"You're a great guy for wanting her to be happy, Rob. That's why you're my best friend."

"Thanks for letting me spill all this, Sinjin."

"No problem, man. Just hang in there."

* * *

"He still loves his ex-girlfriend?"

"Didn't see that one coming."

"No chizz," Cat sighed lying down on Tori's bed.

"But… he really did look like he cared about you," Tori said.

"As a friend, Tor. We had an agreement, remember? This is all part of our deal. And I forgot that."

"It's not your fault you forgot. You can't help how you feel," Tori reasoned.

"This just doesn't feel right," Jade contemplated.

"Of course it doesn't because I like a guy who's still hung up on his ex girlfriend."

"Oh, Cat…" Tori and Jade aided her as she let the tears finally fall.

An hour later, she went back to her room. She had to remember not to let her emotions get to her because this entire weekend Robbie had been nothing but a great friend to her with everything she asked for. She found him fast asleep on their bed. He looked exhausted, as did she. She lay down on her side of the bed, thinking it was a good idea for a nap as well. Cat took a good look at Robbie. She couldn't help but admire the man in front of her. She only wanted what was best for him, even if it was with another woman. His hand was resting idly on the mattress in front of him and Cat gently placed her hand around his. As drowsiness was creeping up in her eyes, Cat felt content and that was enough for her to fall asleep. Though if it weren't for her drowsiness, she could have sworn she felt his hand grip hers before she closed her eyes shut.


	11. Chapter 11

Robbie woke up at around 5:30. He was a bit startled to see Cat fast asleep beside him, and even more startled that they had absentmindedly been holding hands. Like it wasn't already hard enough for him to be around her. Gently, he got up and took a shower. Coming out, he was awaited by a groggy Cat trying to rub the sleep from her eyes.

"Uh, hey. You should shower up and get ready because the dinner starts in two hours.  
"Damn, I went to sleep that long?"

"Well it was a pretty long day," he said. "Go and shower, I'll get our suitcases ready."

"Thanks, Robbie," she said getting up. As she walked passed him to get to the bathroom, she couldn't help but feel all her emotions bottled up inside. Nevertheless, Cat had to be strong.

Come 7:15, their bags were all packed and the two were dressed up and ready for the goodbye dinner. Doing one last round in the hotel room to see if they'd left anything, Robbie shut the door and they silently walked towards the elevator. The silence was ironically ear shattering. Before they reached the main floor, Cat wanted to say something, anything to break the silence. So she muttered the first thing she could think of.

"Only a few more hours before we're home free."

He looked at her with an emotion she couldn't read, and sadly smiled. She was correct. Only a few more hours to play pretend, even if in the middle of it all it wasn't pretend to him anymore.

The dinner went well. Mr. Ferguson thanked his employees numerous times for a successful year and extended his sincere appreciation for a wonderful weekend. The six friends sat cordially through dinner, enjoying the company and the last few moments of their vacation weekend.

"So what's happening now?" Tori asked Cat when the girls were getting ready to leave.

"We're going home?" Cat answered.

"No chizz you're going home, but what about Robbie?" Jade got to the point.

"Nothing's going to happen between me and Robbie if that's what you're asking. We're just going to try to be friends."

Meanwhile, with the guys.

"Did you tell her you love her?" Andre asked.

"No. The last time I've said I love you was to my ex girlfriend. How the heck am I supposed to say anything that makes sense?"

"So that's it? You two are just giving up like that?" Beck was unconvinced

"Giving up sounds so weak," Robbie winced.

"Because it is weak, man," Andre said.

"It's not weak. Whether she gets with Danny or not, I'm just a stranger she picked out of a coffee shop. I'll be lucky if she just wants to be friends."

Tori and Andre went their separate ways from the other four and they drove back to Los Angeles in silence, the radio being the only source of noise. Cat stared outside her window to the night sky contemplating her weekend. The stars were twinkling and that full moon, which to her looked like a marshmallow, was as bright and full as ever. Just like her weekend. She felt complete, despite that she was ending it in awkward terms. Robbie was staring out his side of the window, staring at that same night sky, thinking back on this adventure of his. Even though he was never able to talk to Cat, he never regretted saying yes and agreeing to all of this. Even if he and Cat were leaving with awkward air around them.

Robbie had asked Beck to drop him off at his buddy, Sinjin's apartment since it was much closer to Sunset Studios than his apartment on the other side of town. He had a long night of venting and he knew Sinjin wouldn't mind.

"It was certainly a pleasure meeting you, Jade," Robbie told her with a hug.

"You're not so bad, Shapiro," Jade smiled.

"Hey man, take it easy," Beck man hugged him.

"I should be telling you that with Jade," he winked.

Beck laughed and Jade punched his arm. The two decided to give Cat and Robbie some privacy and got back into the car. She walked him up to the front of the apartment building in silence.

"Robbie?" Cat muttered.

Robbie looked up, a little too hopeful, even though he knew he wouldn't get anything out of it. Cat didn't find the words she wanted to say so she looked at him in worry. So he spoke up first.

"Good luck with everything, you know. At work and with Tori and all. You're such a hard worker, I hope Tori gets that cover story."

Cat sighed as she wrapped herself in a hug with Robbie. He embraced her as tight as he could, never wanting to let go.

"Thank you," she muttered into his shoulder. "Thank you for everything."

He knew what she meant, not having to speak any more words. He broke the hug and nodded at her once more before stepping inside. He waited until he heard the van drive away and leaned against the window next to the apartment entrance. It was then that it all sunk in that his weekend was in fact over.

* * *

**Two Months Later**

"Hi, welcome to JetBrew, what can I g- Robbie, Hey dude!"

"What's up, Beck?" the two men shook hands.

"Hey I've got a break in about five minutes. You sticking around?" he said as he took Robbie's coffee order.

"Sure, dude, I'll be sitting in the corner."

After about five minutes, Beck walked over to Robbie with two cups of coffee. The two men sat down and chuckled, surprised to see one another after months.

"So how have you been, bro?" Beck broke the silence.

"I've been doing alright," Robbie said. "How's Jade?"

"She's a real challenge, I tell you that," the two men laughed. "But she's worth it."

"That's awesome."

"Anything new with you?" Beck asked.

"Not really. Just been cooped up at work. I hear Andre and Tori released a bunch of new duets together?"

"Yeah for Tori's latest album. Man that girl can sing."

"Yeah she can, in the past three episodes of our show I used Tori Vega songs. One of them being a duet with Andre."

"Did you get her new album? The deluxe version?"

"There was a deluxe version? Man I only got the standard one," Robbie shook his head.

"Well she's playing an acoustic show tomorrow night and I hear she's doing a lot of the bonus songs, with a few surprises here and there. You should come."

"Uh…" Robbie hesitated.

"Look, I know what you're thinking," Beck understood, "But you two can be civil around each other right? It's not like you fought."

"You're right, Beck. I'll see if I can make it."

"Awesome. It's at the park down the street from the studio at 8."

"Got it… So, how is Cat by the way?" he finally asked.

"I was beginning to wonder when you were going to bring her up," Beck chuckled. "She's doing alright, man. She and Tori have been so busy with her next album and shows. Most of the time I saw her, she was working late in the studio."

"Talk about workaholic, huh?"

"And you're not a workaholic?" Beck quipped an eyebrow.

"Well I still had time to hangout with my best friend, Sinjin. And lookie here, I finally got a chance for some coffee and I'm talking to you right now," Robbie pointed.

"Alright, alright you win. Cat's worse," Beck gave in. "She really hasn't talked to anyone but Tori, Andre and Jade and they were always about work. Only once she had dinner with us but that was an hour tops."

"Did she uh, bring anyone to the dinner?" Robbie asked.

"If you're asking if she and Danny got together, the answer is no," Beck read his mind. "She's not dating anyone right now. She's too busy with work."

"S-she didn't get back with him?"

"Of course not. Even Tara broke up with him. No idea why, but she probably saw that he was a loser."

"Wow, got to hand it to Tara," Robbie chuckled.

"Anyway, my breaks almost over. See you tomorrow?" Beck said as he got up.

"Yeah, I'll be there."

* * *

"Good evening, everyone! Thanks for coming out!"

The crowd cheered.

"I am so grateful that you all came out here to my first acoustic show showcasing new music from my album," Tori exclaimed. "If you bought the deluxe album, you would have seen that there were six additional songs, some collaborative and some that aren't even mine. And we're going to sing those songs now. So please welcome my boyfriend, Andre Harris!"

Andre walked on stage and gave his girlfriend a hug. For the next three sets, Tori and Andre sang two duets, and Andre sang a solo of his own that Tori added to her album.

Backstage, Beck, Jade and Cat were admiring their two friends' songs.

"Damn those two are so talented," Beck said.

"Of course, they only have the coolest managers in the business," Jade smirked and high-fived Cat.

"Hey guys!" Trina said as she walked up to the three with Ferguson in tow.

"Trina, hey!" Jade and Cat hugged her.

"Beck, good to see you again, son," Mr. Ferguson shook his hand.

"Right back at you, sir," he smiled.

"Cat, where's your boyfriend, Robbie was it? I haven't seen him since the retreat."

"Uh," Cat mumbled.

"Cat's just been really busy with Tori and Robbie's busy with his stuff too. Don't worry, sir. Everything's going great," Beck interrupted.

"Oh yeah? What's he been up to lately?"

"He's been editing a bunch of new episodes, even using a lot of Tori's songs and duets with Andre. I guess Cat and her are such a great team that he loves to use his girlfriend's stuff," Beck informed everyone. "As well as my lady's stuff too." He was referring to Andre's song with Tori.

Cat and Jade were looking at Beck, amazed that he was able to think on his feet. Or so they thought.

"I'm glad you said that because… Trina," Mr. Ferguson gestured for her to finish.

Trina reached into her folder and pulled out a magazine. She flipped it over and in the front, was the team that Mr. Ferguson chose for the Rolling Stones.

"Oh my God!" Cat and Jade gushed at the cover.

"Wow, congratulations," Beck cheered.

Timing was perfect because the song had ended and Cat ran up to the stage.

"Hey guys, give it up for my amazing manager and song writer, Cat Valentine!" Tori cheered, confused as too why Cat ran up too early.

"Hey everyone, I've got some great news," Cat began.

"Yes, Cat's written a new song," Tori exclaimed.

"Yes, but that's not it." Cat gestured for Jade to come on stage as well. She walked up and stood beside Andre.

"You all are first to know that… Tori," Cat pointed to her friend. Then she turned to the other side. "_And_ Andre are going to on the cover of Rolling Stones as cover stories for Sunset Records!"

And the crowd went wild.

"What?!"

"Oh Chizz! For real?!"

"Yes, for real you guys," Jade told them. "Congratulations!"

The team engaged in a love fest of hugs and cheers.

After a moment, Beck signaled that they still had a show to do so Jade broke up the cheers.

"Alright, well let's get on with the show. Tori," she handed Tori the microphone and gestured for she and Andre to walk off stage.

"Right, as I was saying, Cat's written a new song and I must say it was amazing. In fact, if you bought the deluxe version you'd agree with me, am I right?"

The crowd certainly agreed.

"So I've asked Cat, and believe me, it took me a great deal to do so, to sing the song with me tonight. So what do you say? You want to here this girl sing?!"

They all started to cheer Cat's name and Cat finally agreed.

"Hey guys. This song is about my journey with love. Sometimes we're on the right path, other times we take a detour. When we take a detour, often times we feel like we'll never get back to where we want to go. But at the right moment, we'll find our paths once more, sometimes in the most unlikely places. I met this boy recently and I thought I never would meet a guy again after a horrible break up. I probably didn't realize it at first, but from the moment we met, to our first date, to all those times we stayed up talking, I watched my life start all over. So I wrote this song to remind you lonely hearts out there that love can happen again. As for me, mine happened on a Wednesday, at a café..."

The music began and Cat lost herself in the music.

**_Took a deep breath in the mirror  
__He didn't like it when I wore high heels  
__But I do  
__Turn the lock and put my headphones on  
__He always said he didn't get this song  
__But I do, I do_**

**_Walked in expecting you'd be late  
__But you got here early and you stand and wave  
__I walk to you  
__You pull my chair out and help me in  
__And you don't know how nice that is  
__But I do_**

**_And you throw your head back laughing like a little kid  
__I think it's strange that you think I'm funny 'cause he never did  
__I've been spending the last eight months  
__Thinking all love ever does is break and burn and end  
__But on a Wednesday in a cafe I watched it begin again_**

**_You said you never met one girl  
__Who had as many James Taylor records as you  
__But I do  
__We tell stories and you don't know why  
__I'm coming off a little shy  
__But I do_**

**_But you throw your head back laughing like a little kid  
__I think it's strange that you think I'm funny 'cause he never did  
__I've been spending the last eight months  
__Thinking all love ever does is break and burn and end  
__But on a Wednesday in a cafe I watched it begin again_**

**_And we walked down the block to my car and I almost brought him up  
__But you start to talk about the movies that your family watches  
__Every single Christmas and I want to talk about that  
__And for the first time what's past is past_**

Backstage, Jade was standing next to Beck and Andre, proud of her best friend finally letting her voice be heard.

"Hey, Beck. How the heck did you come up with that fib? You are a great bluffer, you know that?" she told her boyfriend.

"Oh that wasn't bluffing," he revealed.

"What's going on?" Andre was clueless.

"Ferguson asked about Robbie and Beck made up this believable story that she and Robbie were just busy with work but they were still together."

"But it's true, they are busy. I mean they work in this business, right?" Beck said.

"Yeah, but the whole song thing, you played that out really well."

"That wasn't a lie," Beck said non-chalantly. "Robbie showed up at the coffee shop yesterday and we talked for a bit."

"You saw Robbie?!" Jade and Andre blurted.

"Yup. We talked about work and he told me that he's used a bunch of Tori's songs, including one with Andre, for his show's soundtrack."

"Yeah yeah, get to the point, did you guys talk about Cat? Does he still have feelings for her?" Andre rushed.

"Wait, what?!" Jade was shocked.

"What?" Beck and Andre asked.

"Robbie had feelings for Cat?"

"I'm sure he still does," Beck replied.

"Wh- how come you guys never told us?! Cat likes him too! That's why she never got back with Danny."

"We thought that Cat and him were just putting up an act. I mean that's what they agreed to, right?" Andre said.

"Ok but you geniuses would have also seen that they weren't pretending, no matter how many times they tried to deny it," she pointed.

"Man I told you it was real!" Andre whacked Beck's shoulder. "Hey I know, it's Robbie you should be knocking some sense into," Beck whacked him back.

"Not just Robbie, but Cat too. They've been so stupid about it."

"Well Robbie told us Cat was getting back with Danny," Beck said.

"But she didn't," Andre clarified.

"And Cat said Robbie still loves his ex-girlfriend."

"What the heck? Who said that?" Andre and Beck asked.

"Cat. She overheard him talking to someone about still being in love with a girl."

"No, you got it all wrong, babe," Beck told her. "He was telling his friend Sinjin that he hasn't been in love with a new girl since his ex, and that he would still love Cat even if she went out with Danny."

"Oh chizz. Freaking misunderstandings," Jade groaned.

"You can say that again," Andre chuckled.

"So now what?" she asked the guys.

"Let's just hope that he came. I invited Robbie tonight. Maybe he heard the song?" Beck hoped.

"Hey guys!" Tori exclaimed as she and Cat walked backstage during intermission.

"Cat you did amazing!" Jade hugged her best friend.

"Yeah, seriously you rocked," Andre said.

"Cat! Tori!" Mr. Ferguson rushed back stage. "You ladies did great! That song had such positive response! How did you come up with that?" he was amazed.

"Duh, she had the best inspiration," Tori giggled.

"I bet. You've really got a good one," Ferguson said. "He's still great."

"What?" Cat and everyone was confused.

"Yeah, I found him in the crowd and we were catching up. Talked about that new project of mine. We heard your song. I tell you he couldn't take his eyes off you," their boss revealed.

"Robbie's here?" Beck excitedly asked.

"Yeah, he's near the fountain. Well can't wait for your next set, Tori." With that, Ferguson walked off.

"Cat, what the heck are you waiting for? Go!" Jade and Tori pushed her.

"But you guys…"

"He doesn't love his ex-girlfriend. You two got it all wrong," Andre said.

"They did? Tori asked.

"Yeah I'll tell you everything later, Tor. But right now, Cat needs to talk it out with Robbie."

* * *

She found Robbie sitting next to the fountain, right where Mr. Ferguson said he'd be.

"Hi," she waved.

"Hey," he shyly said.

She sat next to him.

"Thanks for coming out and supporting Tori."

"Well she's got a pretty great voice. And a pretty great manager," he smiled. "And hey, I finally got to hear you sing."

"Yeah," she blushed. "About that…"

"Was the song…" he implied.

"Yeah, it was…" she understood and answered.

"D-did you mean it?" he turned to face her?

"I meant everything I said," she boldly answered as she looked into his eyes.

"If we're being honest," he began, "It all began for me too on that day."

"Really?" she grew vulnerable.

"Somewhere along the lines of pretend and real life, I just felt that everything was real. If you asked me again, the happiest and most content I've ever been now was with you this weekend."

"Likewise," she shyly smiled.

"And call me crazy because I only knew you for four days, but I think I'm in love with you." There, he said it. And there was no turning back.

"You're not crazy," she said, placing a hand on his cheek. Slowly, she leaned in and placed a loving kiss on his awaiting lips. He smiled into the kiss, not having to ask her what she felt, knowing it was probably something similar to his feelings.

"Because if you're crazy for saying that," she said after the kiss, "then I'm crazy too."

His stomach did somersaults. She loved him too.

"So, can I take you out on a date? No pretending," he chuckled.

"We totally went backwards into this whole relationship thing," she giggled. "Saying I love you before actually dating."

"Yeah, well, we've always had something special, right?" he smirked.

"Yeah," she smiled. "So, what are we then starting from the beginning or…?" she referred to their relationship status.

Robbie didn't know the answer either. Were they girlfriend and boyfriend? Or were they going to date first? But clearly none of that mattered because whatever they decided, he knew he had her and that's all that mattered. For now, he only wanted to savor this moment, they'd deal with everything else another day.

He leaned down and kissed her before answering.

"How about… we talk about it over a cup of coffee?"

**_The End._**

* * *

**A/N: I think I'm losing my touch with these stories. Man it was so hard to write an ending for this. I hope it didn't suck that much. All in all, this story was basically supposed to convey the message that sometimes life can knock you down, but you can't lose hope because if you still have hope, you'll find the courage and confidence to begin again. Whether it's with love or life in general, you need to know and experience heartbreak so you can fully appreciate happiness.**

**I didn't label the chapters with songs because it didn't match the numbers, but here were some songs that did inspire me: Begin Again - Taylor Swift; Finally Falling - Victoria Justice (ft Avan Jogia); We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together - Taylor Swift; I Know You Know - Big Time Rush; Nothing But the Best - Frank Sinatra; I Choose- India Arie; Beauty in Walking Away - Marie Digby; Try Again- Aaliyah**

**Thank you, thank you , thank you to all of you who welcomed me back and who read this story from beginning to end. I missed you guys when I stopped writing. I hate that I'm busy but so much is happening and of course we can't stop life from going on. But seriously after busy days, no matter how tired or frustrated or deadbeat I am, nothing makes me smile more than you all :)**

**So, here's to the coming months. Watch out for my Cikowitz story, the Victorious One-shots, a few more Cabbie stories, and a collab that an awesome friend asked me to do with her. For those of you who read my non Victorious fics, I have plenty more where that came from! **

**Here's to the Mondays ;)**

**-AM**


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